By Ray Rivers
April 22nd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
“The Conservative leader says that only one per cent of single-use plastics find their way into the environment every year, with the rest being recycled.” (CBC News Posted: Apr 18, 2025)
That has to be a misquote. Nobody running for prime minister on behalf of a major political party could be that ignorant. The real numbers from both US and Canadian environmental agencies is that something like 90% or more plastic packaging ends up in landfills or the environment rather than being recycled.
Half of single-use plastic waste produced by just 20 companies
And over 80% of Canadians, according to recent polling, support the single use plastics ban, including something like 70% of Conservatives. But Poilievre must be appealing to that other 30% who make up the extreme right wing of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC). And it appears he is following the lead of the US president who, only days ago, eliminated the US ban on plastic straws claiming…“I don’t think plastic is going to affect a shark very much, as they’re munching their way through the ocean”.
Poilievre had been hoping to be the one to ‘axe-the-carbon-tax’. But then Mr. Carney beat him to it. So Mr. Poilievre has dreamt up some numbers and is calling the plastic bag ban just another tax – a ‘food-tax’ – that he needs to axe. And here again he may not get the chance. While the ban is still in force, it is currently under court review over a technicality.
Mr. Poilievre shuns the label MAGA, though he had been endorsed by Elon Musk. Perhaps it’s his Canadian version of ‘drill-baby-drill’ that Musk, the EV maker, ironically admires. Or it might be the Tory leader’s threat to defund Canada’s national broadcaster, in line with Donald Trump’s promises to defund NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service. But seriously, the primary purpose of the CBC is to inform and enlighten Canadians, and to engender a shared national consciousness and identity. What could be more important for Canadians in this time of national crisis?
Over 70% of Canadians want to see handguns banned.
And then there is the Tory leader’s stand on public safety. He has promised to keep repeat murders behind bars until it’s time to leave prison in a wooden box. And since that might be unconstitutional he would be the first PM to invoke the ‘notwithstanding clause’ to keep them there. But this tough love on crime is a peculiar position for someone who has opposed every single gun control measure in Parliament, and who is refusing to say if he’d relax handgun laws. Being soft on gun ownership may be politically astute south of border in MAGA country but over 70% of Canadians want to see handguns banned.
This is being touted as the most important election in recent memory, and voter turnout at the advance polls has broken all records. There has been a coalescence of the voting public towards the two traditional parties and that is prompting speculation that this might become permanent. Two centrist parties alternating turns at governing is what works best in our first-past-the-post electoral system. But will that be sustainable with one centrist party and the other a kind of MAGA Canadian?
Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links
Plastic Ban – Plastics Poll – Handguns – Guns Poll – Electoral Coalescence – Record Turnout – MAGA –
Carol I have no idea if Poilevre does his own grocercy shopping. I think we can be relatively certain that the Carney’s don’t. either Mark whereabouts unknown and Diane in New York City.
Whether straws are recycled at 1% or 10% or some other value is ridiculous in a country that is insignificant in the global sense. The cost of groceries to millions of Canadians that are using food banks after ten years of Liberal stewardship is a serious issue.
Adding another $130 billion in debt along with tariffs adds gasoline to price inflation.. Huge debt has not worked for Trudeau acting on Carney’s advice. It certainly will not work now.
George H.W. Bush, the former President, reached out to Brian Mulroney, the Prime Minister of Canada, to address the pressing issue of acid rain that was harming the environment. Numerous meetings took place in various facilities across North America, where experts explained the problem and the virtually unlimited funding available to tackle it.
The key takeaway was that while emission issues were being resolved, the systems would also be automated. The rationale for the unlimited funding stemmed from the fact that larger companies could outspend smaller ones, thereby increasing their market share. Additionally, these corporations could redirect their workforce towards more productive tasks.
The initial projects were completed in record time and with substantial budgets, yielding measurable results. As technological advancements continued, particularly in robotics, costs began to decrease.
This approach is known as a value-added investment strategy. In the 1980s, American companies began offshoring and outsourcing manufacturing to low-cost countries such as India, China, Malaysia, Pakistan and Vietnam. While Germany and Japan had started this trend in the 1970s. Consequently, investment began to shift away from America, leading to a decline that was also felt in Canada. One would have to wonder what our industries could have accomplished within the time frame of thirty years.
I believe the record shows Mulroney (Canada’s greenest PM) took on Reagan and George HW Bush on getting acid rain under control.
And you would be correct.
Parachuting into industrial complexities and slapping a broad environmental label onto just one sector is not helpful. Nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and carbon dioxide (CO2) are all emitted during pulp and paper manufacturing. NOx and SOx are major contributors to acid rain, and CO2 is a greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. Just pick any industry and stick a pin in it, and you will find gremlins.
PP is ignorant. His inane social media posts which always have the goal of further dividing people and using juvenile words like “the woke left” and silly little three-word slogans demonstrate that time and again. Why would we want to have a PM who uses the GOP playbook? It’s pathetic. He is the opposite of classy, kind, and Prime Ministerial.
Thanks for your comment Michael. I think it is important to point out, most importantly, that plastic packaging poses human health risks beyond the environmental impact of waste. There is no free lunch in life.
https://www.center4research.org/plastic-wrap-plastic-food-containers-safe/
This is like saying chlorine in water poses a human health risk, yes chlorine is highly toxic, but when used correctly like in the disinfection of drinking water it has saved more lives than any other drug or medical procedure.
The estimated cost of changing plastic wrapping on food is about $400 per year per family. This means more trips to the grocery store, more carbon, more food spoilage, more carbon again, and potentially higher risk of food poisoning putting more pressure on healthcare.
We already know paper straws or straws made from plant based materials and other such products contain “forever chemicals” such as PFAS. When I use a paper straw I usually need to use two, because the first turns into a soggy mess.
It’s all a balance, in the Liberal terms it all about the “thumb” of virtue signaling tipping the scale of logic and common sense.
don’t know why Gazette makes this opinion so “relevant”. It may be factual and accurate on some fronts, and is obviously support for Carney, but it does not include the negatives about Carney that all voters should be aware of. The following are a few positions to consider about Carney ……..
1.His record proves him an “elitist” representing the interests of large financial institutions over ordinary people. He operates in Davos circles and Wall Street backrooms, rather than as someone grounded in grassroots Canadian life.
2.His ties to the World Economic Forum (WEF) make him( by association) part of a top-down, technocratic elite group that doesn’t answer to voters.
3.He has a proven history of “Greenwashing” — pushing ESG and climate finance more for optics and profit than for actual environmental results.
4.His association with Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein, although not a “smoking gun”, it’s enough to plant “doubt” and raise red flags about his circle of “friends”.
5.He has never held elected office and hasn’t “earned” it through grassroots engagement or campaigning.
6. He is Trudeau aligned and more of the same — polished, performative, and tied to big-money politics. Not a real change, just a more sophisticated suit.
So there may be some overreach in Polievre’s posture on “plastics”, but it’s transparent, unlike Carney’s slick, shrink-wrapped persona that promises everything and delivers nothing.
I hope Canadians are wise enough to avoid another Liberal grift.
I’m confused Ray. You say that the quote you used has to be a misquote, and then use it to indict Pierre Poilievre for being ignorant of the facts? I would like to believe the hype about Mark Carney, but so far in the campaign, he has largely copped much of the Conservative’s proposed policies, but supports maintaining the plastics ban as a matter of Canadian sovereignty (i.e. be unlike US/ Trump) which seems a little duplicitous & self-promoting to me. I just hope we Canadians “Won’t Be Fooled Again”.
The point of the Conservative Policy is to bring attention to the Liberal Policy to remove plastic from food packaging which is absolutely insane.
According to leaders in the food business, plastic provides the best technology to preserve and keep food fresh, provides best tear and puncture resistance and minimize food spoilage and wastage.
While Ray tries to get his “sheep” fretting over plastic straws, the Policy Horizons Canada https://horizons.service.canada.ca/en/2025/01/10/future-lives-social-mobility/pdf/future-lives-social-mobility-en.pdf issued a shocking report on “Future Lives Social Mobility in Questions” this weekend.
This report is overseen from the Privy Council Office which reads in one section:
“This foresight brief paints a picture of Canada in 2040, where upward social mobility is uncommon. Hardly anyone believes that they can build a better life for themselves or their children in this future. However, many worry about sliding down the social order, which has become much more common.”
This is not a think tank, not an op-ed, but overseen from the PCO and a result of 10 years of Liberal policy.
As the editor correctly points out Mark Carney is not Justin Trudeau. Carney’s budget contains the same spending as Trudeau with the addition of more much more spending and debt. MP’s are the same, staffers are the same, promises are eerily the same, cabinet is the same.
What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome?
Poilievre was at a recycling facility that recycles Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), identified by the number “1” on the recycling symbol, which is highly recyclable, with a recycling rate of 100%. It’s commonly used for soft drink bottles, water bottles, and other food containers. The recycling process involves collecting, sorting, cleaning, and re-melting the PET plastic to create new products, including new bottles and various other goods. The recycling industry in its infant stages attracted heavy investment that is finally paying off. See attached for the latest on this amazing advancement.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949823624000722
MAGA = Make Alberta’s-smith Go Away.
For the Record – Mark Carney did not cancel the carbon tax he merely put it at O%. Legislation is needed to cancel this tax. Mr. Carney can change his mind at any time should he be elected to be the Prime Minister and the carbon tax will be back.
His “shadow carbon tax” which would mean that industries would be paying this tax which in turn will cause increase in the price of products that the public purchase. There, of course, will be no carbon rebates sent to Canadians.
Talk about ridiculous behaviour. Mr. Carney at a rally yelled out ” yes we will support Gaza”. His handlers realized that this was a terrible misstep on his part.
What did Mr. Carney then do – a video appeared of Mr. Carney (wearing an apron) going into a Jewish family home and made Matzo Balls ( for those of you who may not know what this is – it is not quite but is an addition to a bowl of soup during Passover).
Does the Liberal Party of Canada think that this would be enough to cancel out what happened at the rally?
It took me close to 2 hours to vote on Friday. Everything was done manually, and there were not enough people at the stations in the polling area to move people through quickly. I believe this is being handled by the current Liberal Federal Government
A little more balance in your opinion pieces would be appreciated.
Editor’s note: The Liberals are not running the federal election. It is run by Elections Canada which is an arms length from the government organization. It submits an annual report to the House of Commons.
The revoking of the plasticridiculously ridiculousl.
I don’t think Polievre has been grocery shopping…the big profit making stores like the Loblaws group have done NOTHING in terms of actual food packaging in eliminating plastic..everything still comes in plastic packaging…so it’s not these costs that they are passing along. No longer providing bags to carry out groceries has been around for years so where are these environmental changes that are making things more expensive?
This was another misguided attempt….he should have focused more on solutions than spending the last 2 years attacking Trudeau. His phoney debate performance and his tearful “violin moment” fooled no one.