A ruling in Canadian federal court released yesterday could be the last straw in the Liberal government’s mission to decimate the plastics industry.
Justice Angela Furlanetto ruled that a Liberal cabinet order listing plastic items as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act is “unreasonable and unconstitutional.”
“The broad and all-encompassing nature of the category of (plastic manufactured items) poses a threat to the balance of federalism as it does not restrict regulation to only those (items) that truly have the potential to cause harm to the environment,” Furlanetto wrote.
Thursday’s ruling could open the door to other challenges related to Canadian government moratoriums on such things as single-use plastic bags and plastic straws.
The Responsible Plastic Use Coalition, which brought the lawsuit challenging the toxic label, said it is “analyzing court documents and will be considering our next steps,” the Canadian Press reported.
Steven Guilbeault, Canadian minister of environment, said that the federal government is “strongly considering an appeal” of the decision.
Meanwhile, the province of Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Environment Rebecca Schulz, urged the federal government to give up the fight.
“This latest decision comes on the heels of the Supreme Court of Canada decision confirming the unconstitutionality of the federal government’s destructive Impact Assessment Act, formerly known as Bill C-69, and demonstrates a continued pattern of federal overreach intended to subvert the constitutionally protected role and rights of provinces using the criminal head of power.
“Like Bill C-69, the federal government’s decision to unilaterally label perfectly safe plastic consumer products as ‘toxic’ has had wide-ranging consequences for Alberta’s economic interests and has put thousands of jobs and billions of investments at risk.
“It’s time for the federal government to listen to the courts and to Canadians. We urge them to not appeal this decision, and to immediately delete ‘plastic manufactured items’ from Schedule 1 of the current Canadian Environmental Protection Act so as to avoid further need of legal action by Alberta and other provinces.”
In a series of articles written for BIG Media Ltd., Chris DeArmitt, PhD in polymers and surface science, and doctor of geology/educator Brad Hayes illustrated the ill-founded prejudice toward plastics of some western governments, many scientists, and a high percentage of the public:
- Are you prejudiced against plastics?
- Jury duty – defendant plastics
- Trash talk: are microplastics truly the horror story we are being told?
