Toronto will get a six-month plastic bags free-for-all, and then no bags at all
A strange series of events at city hall yesterday saw council vote with Rob Ford to nix the five-cent plastic bag fee—and then completely blindside the mayor by deciding to ban bags altogether (surprise!). That means, starting July 1, retailers will be allowed to give away bags for free to plastic-loving Torontonians…but only until January 1, when the bagopolooza ends and the ban kicks in. What makes the vote especially discouraging for Ford is that it wasn’t some bicycle-riding, latte-sipping pinko councillor who introduced the motion, but David Shiner, an ally and member of his executive committee—who openly admitted to coming up with the idea mid-meeting. Ford was visibly upset after the vote, “blinking rapidly,” speculating the city would be sued over the ban and telling radio host John Oakley, “It’s the dumbest thing council has done, and council has done some dumb things.” If it stands, Toronto will be the first major Canadian city to have a plastic bag ban (sorry, Fort McMurray, apparently you don’t count). [Toronto Star]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/plastic-bag-ban-rob-ford/&title=Toronto will get a six-month plastic bags free-for-all, and then no bags at all&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/plastic-bag-banned-624x444.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_142093" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="(Image: zeevveez)"][/caption]
A strange series of events at city hall yesterday saw council vote with Rob Ford to nix the five-cent plastic bag fee—and then completely blindside the mayor by deciding to ban bags altogether (surprise!). That means, starting July 1, retailers will be allowed to give away bags for free to plastic-loving Torontonians...but only until January 1, when the bagopolooza ends and the ban kicks in. What makes the vote especially discouraging for Ford is that it wasn’t some bicycle-riding, latte-sipping pinko councillor who introduced the motion, but David Shiner, an ally and member of his executive committee—who openly admitted to coming up with the idea mid-meeting. Ford was visibly upset after the vote, “blinking rapidly,” speculating the city would be sued over the ban and telling radio host John Oakley, “It’s the dumbest thing council has done, and council has done some dumb things.” If it stands, Toronto will be the first major Canadian city to have a plastic bag ban (sorry, Fort McMurray, apparently you don’t count). [Toronto Star]){kind=link}
Ford/Harper Nation logic: Health, education, environment, veteran services (etc, etc, etc) are expensive entitlements that should be drastically slashed to lower standards of living in Canada and improve labour force flexibility.
BUT TAKE MY FREE, GOD-GIVEN PLASTIC BAGS AWAY AND IT’S A FAILURE OF DEMOCRACY.
I don’t understand….am I the only one in this city that uses plastic bags for garbage? What is the defense for those that think this ban is good for us? What is the benefit? Smart money will tell you to buynstock in glad and other plastic bag manufactures. Toronto will be having a drought because some activists think this will save the environment. Bravo you idiots
If this does not prove the bozo of an idiot clown of a mayor and council we voted in, well, YOU ALL voted in, then we need some more vodka to the brain. Dumbo! We have bigger issues here versus an all day debate on garbage bags for 6cents. Come on!
I’m all for saving the planet and all, but the ban on plastic bags probably isn’t the most economically friendly decision. Are we to depend on cloth bags now? Well, where do those cloth bags come from? Probably a factory in China. How do those bags get to Canada? Probably by boat! What do boats run on?! Millions of liters of FUEL. So, what now?
I blame this knee-jerk reaction completely on Rob Ford, despite the fact that he blames the people who voted him in for their apathy (perfect example of lead by example I suppose).
He started a debate on something that was actually working because the idea bothered him. People were against it out of principle (myself included when the program started) but it has actually WORKED – not only in greatly reducing the number of plastic bags people use, but also in terms of money generated for charity.
Why wasn’t the idea of a complete ban of non-biodegradable bags floated (and go after coffee cups while you’re at it)? That way people can still use biodegradable bags for garbage or green bins (within their usable lifespan of a year or so) and we have less landfill issues.
That keeps the plastic bag industry cruising along (most of these businesses already produce biodegradable bags) and the increased quantities of these bags will translate into a reduction in the cost of them for retailers.
I would think most people would be happy with this solution (probably not Ford, but I can live with that)!
I understand the need to reduce plastics. I support the idea of the city imposing a 5 cent levy on bags PROVIDING the money went to the city. (With all due respect to the commentator Steve above, the previous bylaw where the retailer was able to keep the levy was not working for me or most other people I know.) I might even by supportive of a ban on plastic bags PROVIDING public consultation had taken place. But as we all know, this ban was done with virtually no consultation from the public or input from staff. Regardless of whether one supports the ban or not, this is not a good way to make policy. It may be a good idea to ban plastic, but it is definitely a BAD idea to make important decisions in what seems to be reckless manner. I realize that this sort of move is getting lots of support on blogs and in the twittersphere… but in the real world, it is stuff like this that is virtually guaranteed to get Ford re-elected in 2014.
Start it up and let it get hot, Now wear a good heavy cloth glove and get a copper pan subrcber and wipe off, be careful it does have to get hot first. and tighten your bags up the next time, You might be able to sew some Kevlar safety sleeve material on the bags in that area,you can use dye to color the kevlar.