Just when it looked like an agreement had been reached and Thompson's new bylaw banning plastic bags would be passed in time to come into effect Oct. 4, a wrench was thrown into the plans.
The bylaw had been slated for third reading at the Sept. 13 council meeting. However, the bylaw that was presented to council that night had been modified from the original bylaw which passed first reading July 19 and second reading Aug. 30.
Specifically, the bylaw had been changed from banning single-use plastic bags to banning "single-use shopping bags," including biodegradable and paper bags - both of which were thought to be permissible and potential replacements for the banned plastic bags.
In a Sept. 9 memo to council, Coun. Oswald Sawh - the chair of the city's solid waste minimization working group and chief architect of the bag-banning efforts - stated that even though Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM) were against an outright ban and would not offer Thompson any support if they went through with it, they would prefer the ban to be "all-inclusive" to level the playing field for all businesses. "The only change would mean paper bags and biodegradable bags would now be included in the ban," wrote Sawh, adding that retailers had already indicated they didn't plan to make paper or biodegradable bags available for their customers.
"We've had really good support on this," said Sawh at the council meeting. "We can work at banning paper and biodegradable." Sawh also explained that as it takes more energy to produce paper bags than it does plastic bags, replacing plastic with paper would in effect be worse for the environment.
Other councillors seemed surprised by the modified bylaw. Coun. Stella Locker pointed out that banning paper bags would not only affect stores, but also fast-food and drive-thru restaurants, which normally package their food in paper bags. "We are a community where a lot of people are eating out," she said.
For his part, Mayor Tim Johnston was contemplative. "I'm a little confused as to why industry pushes an all-out ban," he said. "I'd like to know a little more information about why that is." Johnston noted that in landfills, plastic and paper bags degrade at the same rate, but suggested that the working group consult with local small businesses to see how they would be impacted by the ban expanding to include paper and biodegradable bags.
Though not a locally based retailer, Safeway has already made their feelings known on the issue. "Our desire [is] to ensure any ban is all inclusive (paper, plastic) as we believe it provides a level playing field for retailers and is ultimately in the best interests of the environment," wrote John Graham, Safeway's public affairs manager, in an e-mail to the city. "Additionally, we would urge sufficient introduction time be included before the ban takes effect to allow the City to effectively communicate to the public about the change."
The modified deadline - from a proposed start date of Oct. 4 to Dec. 31 - is the one change in the bylaw which no councillors quibbled with, suggesting that it would be helpful to all businesses to have additional time to prepare, and for the public to have more advance notice of the changes.
Safeway has also said that if an "all-encompassing ban," including paper and biodegradable bags, was to be enacted, Safeway would aid in the transition by advertising the changes on signs in the store, through the in-store radio, through outside advertisements, and through enhanced in-store display of reusable bags.
"I feel like the industry's trying to pull one over on us," said Coun. Charlene Lafreniere, suggesting that retailers' sudden drive for an outright ban on single-use bags, when many of them had previously been opposed to any ban, was an attempt to prolong the debate among council and potentially stop the project in its tracks, retaining the status quo.
"I am so excited to get the plastic bag ban in place, but I feel like this third version goes to things we never consulted about or spoke on," said Lafreniere. "I think it goes absolutely against things that came up in the public forum."
Retailers are arguing that they wouldn't be using biodegradable or paper bags anyhow, so banning them as well simply puts everybody on an even playing field. "They have said that if a ban was to come into force, they would not use biodegradable bags or paper bags, they would only use the reusable bags," explained Coun. Harold Smith.
Coun. Stella Locker continued her objections to any sort of bag ban on other grounds, noting that "the cloth bags are unsanitary, and I really don't think people will be washing them every time they go shopping." Locker also told council she had spoken to small businesses, many of which were preparing to leave bags entirely up to their customers. "They're not prepared to charge people for bags, and they're not prepared to give people bags," she said.
"We're rushing in," Locker concluded. "We just want to be like the big cities and Leaf Rapids." Leaf Rapids was the first community in Canada to put an outright ban on single-use plastic bags. Locker has previously called for a more effective, more regularly enforced anti-litter bylaw.
A ban - using the "single-use shopping bag" phrasing, but exempting pharmacies, liquor stories, and some restaurants - recently came into effect in Fort McMurray, Alberta, with a start date of Sept. 1.
"I don't know if I've ever seen a councillor with the dogged determination that Councillor Sawh has shown on this issue," said Smith, praising Sawh's efforts to overcome objections from industry and other groups.
Smith did, however, warn that a ban on plastic bags was more window dressing than a solid blow for environmentalism. "I caution people against saying this is an environmental achievement," he said. "I do want to move people to reusable cloth bags as a safe, environmental choice."
"All the major retailers, except for Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire, have now shown the willingness to work with the proposed ban," Sawh wrote in his memo, also noting that "Wal-Mart has indicated that their lobby group speaks for them." While Canadian Tire has not made any contact with the working group, the Canadian Tire store in Fort McMurray did offer promotions around reusable bags once their ban was announced, suggesting that on a corporate level, Canadian Tire is not unwilling to accept the ban.
"It will result in the need for residents to change their habits when it comes to the use of reusable bags," wrote Sawh. "At the public meeting and the Chamber [of Commerce] meetings, it was demonstrated that residents are ready for this change."
Despite the changes, the bags that would have been specifically exempted under the bylaw's original warning will remain such. These include bags used within stores to package items such as fruit, nuts, candy and small hardware items, bags used to hold frozen foods, meat, flowers or potted plants, bags used to protect bakery items, bags used by pharmacists to hold prescription drugs, door-hanger bags, dry-cleaning bags, and bags sold to be used as garbage and waste bags.
MMSM, an industry group formed in response to the packaging and printed paper stewardship regulation set out by the provincial government in 2008, and composed of industry stewards, who MMSM notes are "responsible for 80 per cent of the net costs of operating the program," had previously made a presentation to council on July 19, outlining a plan to reduce plastic bag usage in Thompson by 50 per cent over five years. This plan would include three key components - a plastic bag roundup challenge to be held at Thompson's six elementary schools, an annual audit to track the progress of bag-related initiatives over the first two years, and educational programs for retailers designed to help them reduce their use of the single-use bags. MMSM would not go through with any of these programs if council voted in favour of a complete ban, and the solid waste minimization working group ultimately recommended that council go ahead with the ban over MMSM's objections.
The city has previously stated that its goal is to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags by 90 per cent by this fall. Extra Foods in the Thompson Plaza has been charging shoppers five cents per bag since April 2009. A provincial plan announced in 2008 aimed to reduce usage of plastic bags in Manitoba by 50 per cent by 2013.
Public meetings on the issue of the bag ban were held in individual neighbourhoods beginning in the spring of 2009, while a city-wide meeting was held at the Letkemann Theatre in June.
Ultimately, the bylaw was tabled, allowing at least two weeks for further consultation and reflection.
