P.A. bans plastic shopping bags

Prince Albert is believed to be the first city in Saskatchewan to have banned single-use plastic checkout bags.

P.A. city council passed a bylaw unanimously at a meeting on Monday despite some last-minute concerns raised by the local chamber of commerce.

There will be a six-month adjustment period before the bylaw comes into effect on Aug. 1.

Businesses or restaurants found distributing or selling plastic bags after that could face fines of up to $1,000, although stores will still be able to sell packages of bags for food storage and garbage.

There will also be exemptions for bags used to carry produce, meat, unpackaged baked goods, flowers, bulk items, live fish and dry cleaning.

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne said he supports the bylaw, which will reduce the amount of waste sent to the city’s landfill. The city estimates at least three million plastic bags have been handed out annually in Prince Albert.

The idea faced one last hurdle before it was put to a final vote.

“It takes time to switch a mindset and habits,” Elise

It’s high time that we become a leader, not a follower. We don’t follow government in the city. Government is too slow for us.

Hildebrandt, CEO of the Prince Alberta and District Chamber of Commerce, told council. “Plastic bags are on their way out, but the business community does not feel the switch can be done in six months.”

Hildebrandt proposed that city council delay the bylaw a year or wait until the federal government follows through on a plan to ban single-use plastics.

“I think it’s high time that we become a leader, not a follower,” replied Coun. Don Cody. “We don’t follow government in the city. Government is too slow for us.”

Dionne said he would pressure the federal and provincial governments to restrict other kinds of single-use plastics that fall outside the city’s jurisdiction. He cited plastic packaging from online retailers such as Amazon as a major problem.

“As online shopping continues to grow, so does the pollution that comes to our landfill.”

Last week, the City of Victoria lost its fight to maintain a ban on plastic bags. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld a lower court’s ruling that had quashed the ban.

A bylaw enacted in January 2018 had prevented merchants from giving out plastic bags and required them to make paper or reusable ones available to customers.