CFIB questions need for plastic bag ban

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is questioning whether a provincewide ban on plastic bags is the answer to a growing problem.

CFIB wrote a letter to Perry Trimper, federal minister of environment and climate change, and provincial Municipal Affairs Minister Eddie Joyce recommending the provincial government take a “cautious approach to completely banning plastic bags,” which is being advocated by a number of municipal leaders.

“Small business owners in Newfoundland and Labrador have indicated time and time again that they support protecting the environment, but wonder whether regulations like a plastic bag ban are necessary,” Vaughn Hammond, director of provincial affairs for CFIB in Newfoundland and Labrador, stated in a news release.

“Plastic bags hanging off trees and shrubs and floating in ponds and rivers are certainly an eyesore, but banning single-use plastic bags may be an inappropriate solution.”

Hammond said that in 2015, a voluntary plastic bag ban was introduced on Fogo Island with mixed results. Some business owners have kept plastic bags out of their stores, but many others on the island continue to provide them to customers. While these small business owners are using fewer plastic bags in their businesses, they find it necessary to have them as an option for customers.

“Providing plastic bags to customers is a cost of doing business and any efforts that can be made to reduce costs, particularly in this economic environment, should be welcome by small business owners,” said Hammond. “By working together, the small business community and the municipalities should be able to find a more effective way to curb plastic bag use in the province.”

A copy of the letter to the ministers is available at http://www.cfib-fcei.ca/cfibdocuments/nl1130.pdf.