Juno News - June 10, 2019


Liberals promised ＂evidence-based＂ policy, but the evidence says plastic bans don't work


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

160.625

Word Count

771

Sentence Count

46

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary

Justin Trudeau has announced that if he s re-elected, he ll pursue a ban on single-use plastics like straws, the sticks that you hold balloons with, and things like polystyrene cups. It s a straw man argument if ever there was one.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 It's a straw man argument if ever there was one.
00:00:05.000 The idea that banning single-use plastics like straws and styrofoam cups in Canada
00:00:11.000 will help the environment globally or even domestically.
00:00:16.000 Justin Trudeau has announced that if he's re-elected, he'll pursue a ban on single-use plastics.
00:00:21.000 Straws, the sticks that you hold balloons with, things like polystyrene cups.
00:00:27.000 He hasn't yet finalized the list of items that will be banned but said he'll be taking a cue from the European Union
00:00:33.000 in deciding finally what will be subject to the ban.
00:00:37.000 Here's what Justin Trudeau said when he announced it.
00:00:40.000 I'm very pleased to announce that as early as 2021, Canada will ban harmful single-use plastics
00:00:55.000 from coast to coast to coast.
00:00:58.000 Our approach, including determining which products fall under the ban,
00:01:03.000 will be grounded in scientific evidence and closely mirror the actions being taken by the European Union
00:01:09.000 and like-minded countries.
00:01:12.000 Yes, and I've seen the same footage as well that Trudeau mentioned earlier in his statements.
00:01:17.000 I've seen the albatross carcass on the beach with the little plastic containers inside it.
00:01:22.000 I've seen the turtle that had to have the straw pulled out of its nose, bleeding and visibly in pain.
00:01:28.000 And I don't like seeing it. It's unpleasant.
00:01:30.000 I don't like seeing animals suffering.
00:01:32.000 I don't like seeing garbage littering God's creation, the ocean.
00:01:36.000 But what I also don't like is this baseless virtue signaling that a single-use plastics ban in Canada
00:01:43.000 will do anything to reduce the amount of plastic going into the ocean.
00:01:48.000 And it's very easy to reach this conclusion because it isn't Canadian plastic that's going into the ocean.
00:01:54.000 And there's research on this.
00:01:56.000 Most notably, a German study that found 95% of all plastic that ends up in the ocean comes from 10 rivers.
00:02:05.000 10 specific rivers that make up 95%.
00:02:08.000 None of those rivers are in Canada.
00:02:11.000 8 of them are in Asia and 2 of them are in Africa.
00:02:14.000 And even then, the consumer plastics that we hear about, like straws for example, or plastic bags,
00:02:21.000 are actually down the list quite significantly as far as what is causing the plastic overload in the ocean.
00:02:28.000 A lot of it is abandoned fishing gear, large industrial things, not the small consumer items.
00:02:35.000 And more importantly, when we look at these things, a lot of companies are already leading by example.
00:02:40.000 There are a number of restaurants that have switched to these biodegradable spoons and forks.
00:02:46.000 You have straws that are already going the way of the dodo bird in a number of eateries that will give you paper straws or no straw at all.
00:02:53.000 Starbucks has infamously rolled out that plastic sippy cup for grown-ups instead of having straws in the long term.
00:03:00.000 All of these things have been industry-driven decisions because customers want to be responsible for less plastic output.
00:03:09.000 And I've got no issues with a company that makes this decision, even if it is more for people feeling good than actually doing anything.
00:03:16.000 But once we start talking about the state mandating it, the government that promised evidence-based decision making
00:03:22.000 is now ignoring the evidence just to win over the environmentalists.
00:03:26.000 Maybe he's worried about a split off to some Green Party support.
00:03:29.000 Maybe Trudeau genuinely believes it.
00:03:32.000 But no study suggests that Canada, which already has a very robust and effective waste management system,
00:03:38.000 is going to see a significant or even an insignificant difference by banning plastic.
00:03:43.000 It just isn't the case.
00:03:45.000 And even in the United States, for example, where an estimated 500 million straws are used a year,
00:03:50.000 the number that are recovered on shores is about a hundred and some odd thousand.
00:03:54.000 That's .000 and a couple of more zeros there before you get to a number as far as the straws that end up in the ocean.
00:04:04.000 And this is because you have to look at the third world or developing countries that are causing these problems.
00:04:10.000 The countries that have much bigger problems to deal with having to ban plastic, for example, or that just don't care.
00:04:19.000 We cannot legislate their problems away.
00:04:23.000 And again, this is not saying that we should do nothing.
00:04:25.000 It's about recognizing all the work that's being done by the private sector and supporting that.
00:04:30.000 Government can do a lot more rather than legislating these things out of existence
00:04:35.000 simply by making sure that companies are economically well-off enough to decide to do these things themselves.
00:04:41.000 Focus on the basics, focus on the economy, and stop with the straw men.
00:04:46.000 For True North, I'm Andrew Lutton.