City
Council throws out plastic bag ban bylaw
Toronto city council has voted 38-7 not to adopt a bylaw banning the sale of single use plastic bags, instead opting for further study into alternative ways of discouraging use of the shopping containers.
The result, which can be considered a victory for embattled mayor Rob Ford, essentially kills off any chance of the city preventing supermarkets handing out carrier bags to customers in the new year as planned. Instead, a study looking at different solutions will be presented in 2013.
Two separate interest groups, the Ontario Convenience Stores Association and the Canadian Plastic Bag Association, filed lawsuits against the city this month in protest at the way the ban was enacted earlier this year.
During a debate on the nickel checkout fee, a surprise motion by councillor David Shiner to ban plastic bags entirely passed 24-20, much to the anger of the mayor. Both plastic bag groups taking legal action against the city claimed the prohibition was enacted without proper consultations. It's not clear what effect today's decision will have on the intentions of the OCSA and CPBA.
Speaking before the vote, Councillor Gord Perks told Rob Ford "congratulations Mr. Mayor, you won, but the city of Toronto lost." Shortly after, councillor Doug Ford questioned the sense behind preventing the sale of cheap plastic bags, saying "What are you going to do? Walk out with grapes and fruit in your hand?".
Several other councillors, including Giorgio Mammoliti and deputy mayor Doug Holyday, said this was a chance to go back and re-examine the process that led to the ban, not an indictment of the idea itself.
As it stands, there will not be a return of the 5-cent bag fee either. It's possible the ban or another form of prohibition will be discussed again next summer.
How do you feel about the result - will it change the way you pick up groceries? Do you already bring re-usable carriers to the supermarket?
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Photo: "Harold Still Bargains" by Tsar Kasim in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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Anyway, the ban was stupid. Very stupid. I just feel even more stupid for starting to hoard bags for litter and household trash.
I hoarded incandescent light bulbs last year, preparing for the ban. Boy, did I feel silly when the province finally came to its senses...
It allows one to go back and correct mistakes.
Jarvis was a mistake, by Davy. It wasn't in the bike lane plan. He just threw it out there. The bag ban was a joke that came out of no where. No one expected it to pass and everyone was shocked when it did
Too bad city council doesn't care about the environment or waste.
I guess Ford won that one.
At least revert it back to the 5 cent fee!
There are a number of reasons for the $0.05 fee, but the grocery stores suffering a "net loss" is not one of them.
Until the next election, every few months, we'll just keep on having more votes on elephants, plastic bags and various subway vs LRT and waterfront issues...
Bill Murray for mayor!
Anyway you slice it, stores are now pocketing a nickel for something that was wrapped into the cost of the product (for decades) prior to this ban.
I like how the 5-cent fee got people thinking, but it's hard to defend the fee (and the ban) with logic.
I guess the first cold of the season and city council don't mix...
Whoa! Whaaaaaaa?
An elected official ran afoul of serious guidelines, refused to correct his actions when given chances, and was removed.
Harsh? Yes. But it's the system working more or less as it should. And our elected officials will decide how to proceed from here.
He wasn't deposed by the military in a leftist coup, although if you listen to talk radio, that's pretty much how they see it. Rather, he was found guilty by a judge for violating a very simple law that he should have been more than aware of after having spent 12 years at city hall. Please spare us the dramatics.
If retailers want to charge $0.05 for a bag, they can. There is no law banning a fee.
Again, there are a number of reasons for a bag fee, but the grocery stores suffering a "net loss" is not one of them. You are so far outside the realm of reasonable justification, it's absurd.
Don't think the mayor should lose his job, but the councillors... YES! This bag mess has cost US a heck of a lot more than $3,000. Think about other important matters that could have been attended to. The councillors made the bags a political issue. Hey councillors, better look for a job elsewhere come next election. You have no merit at city hall anymore!
"The councillors", regardless of how much of a blow hard or douchebag they may be, are entitled to vote however they damn well please on any motion before council. Even if it costs money. Even if that decision is reversed months later.
Also, once again, for the record: Rob Ford's current situation has nothing to do with $3000 technically. He broke the law by voting on a matter in which he had an interest and willfully disregarded the act of parliament that governs his elected position. Period. None of "the councillors" did that.
You have no merit anywhere.
This city is becoming a joke.
I guess the problem is, not everyone will do what Chris does and thus banning plastic shopping bags is better for the environment.
Have you forgotten Rob Ford's arrest in Florida? Or Rahim Jaffer's coke charges here in Ontario?
Everyone talks big on law and order, but they sure are glad for leniency when it suits them.
I like the bags
Yes, this is now a city of gossip mongerers who want to overturn every democratic decision they don't agree with. Welcome to the new Toronto
for folks like us living in the city... you need bags to carry things when you have to walk take ttc everywhere- I will still use my cloth bags - but it is great to know that I can still get a bag- btw.. I reuse those said bags over and over again.. so it does get recycled. and better to use these bags- then have to buy new garbage bags- which totally contradicts the purpose of being green..
And to David Shiner...I'm NEVER voting for you ever again!!!
CBC News Posted: Oct 25, 2011 10:42 AM ET
....
Before the vote Mayor Rob Ford said he didn't think it was the city's responsibility to ban the sale of shark fins and that he wouldn't support the motion.
"I don't think it's in our purview to do that," he told CBC. "If other councillors want to do it it's an open vote. It's been going on for so long I don't know why it's an issue now."
......
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/10/25/shark-fin-ban-vote.html