Are Tim Hortons' new lids 'woke'? One Conservative MP thinks so

Conservative MP Lianne Rood says she has no time for Tims after the fast food chain began testing new lids in certain locations.

Over the past year, Tim Hortons has been replacing plastic coffee lids with fibre ones as part of a pilot project in some cities.

Rood took to social media to complain about the "woke paper lids that dissolve in your mouth."

"Until Tim Hortons gets rid of this paper lid, I'm done with Tim Hortons," she said in a video posted to X, for‐ merly Twitter, on Thursday.

In a separate X post, the Ontario MP claimed that the lid begins dissolving after a few sips and took a shot at some of Tim Hortons' food selections.

"We've overlooked Tim Horton's wacko menu items but now their coffee doesn't even work like coffee any‐ more," Rood wrote.

Rood's video was shot outside of a Tim Hortons lo‐ cation just south of Parlia‐ ment Hill.

The company announced in April that it would be con‐ ducting a six-week trial of its fibre lids at some stores in the nation's capital.

"We're excited to ask Ot‐ tawans to help us test this new, plastic-free and recy‐ clable lid for Tim Hortons hot beverage cups. We're known for serving Canada's favourite coffee, so it's im‐ portant that we develop a best-in-class solution for our guests," Paul Yang, Tim Hor‐ tons' director of sustainable packaging, said in a media statement at the time.

Yang said the new lids are meant to feel like the old ones, but are completely plastic free. Similar trials with the lids were conducted in Vancouver and Prince Ed‐ ward Island in recent years. The Vancouver pilot elimi‐ nated the use of 3.3 million plastic lids, according the the company's press release from April.

Tim Hortons said Thurs‐ day there is no plan to switch to fibre lids company-wide.

"This is part of our longterm learning for packaging alternatives," the company said in an emailed statement.

Reducing plastic waste has been a key part of the Liberal government's envi‐ ronmental policy, which in‐ cludes a ban on single-use plastics, such as straws and cutlery. The ban does not in‐ clude coffee lids.

In November, a judge struck down a key policy up‐ holding the ban. The govern‐ ment says it plans to appeal.

The Conservatives have taken aim recently at the single-use plastic ban. Saskatchewan MP Corey To‐ chor introduced a private member's bill in February that would reverse the policy.

Tochor has complained specifically about the loss of plastic straws.

"Soggy, limp, wet and ut‐ terly useless: we are not talk‐ ing about the Liberals. We are talking about paper straws," he said during a House debate on his bill last month.

Conservatives haven't al‐ ways been so hostile to the idea of banning certain plas‐ tic items. In 2015, the Con‐ servative government under Stephen Harper pledged to ban small plastic "mi‐ crobeads" used in personal care products.

Negotiators from around the world were in Ottawa last month to discuss a possible global treaty on plastic waste reduction. A final round of meetings is set for later this year in South Korea.

Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans, rivers and lakes, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The UNEP says plastic pol‐ lution can alter habitats and the natural world, reduce ecosystems' ability to adapt to climate change and di‐ rectly affect livelihoods and food production for millions of people.

Only about nine per cent plastic is recycled. of