An advocate for a plastic bag ban in our region has called it quits.
Denis Hughes said he made presentations to Ladysmith council, a presentation to the old Nanaimo council and one to the new one, a year later but while they agreed with him, there was no concrete action.
“I’m getting kind of tired of pushing and trying to save the world on my own to be honest. I’ve done beyond my duty. I presented to Nanaimo council again, two months ago, of them voting to ban plastic bags and the new council decided to go into consultation instead of implementing a ban.”
Parksville was set to implement a plastic bag ban on March 1st of this year, but the initiative didn’t get the third reading it needed from the new council.
Hughes said he was happy to see Saanich council recently vote to implement a plastic bag ban, but he will believe it when he sees it.
Hughes said councils seem to have a way of backing down on the initiative and he suspects it’s the Canadian plastic bag industry that’s threatening lawsuits.
The City of Victoria did manage to implement a single use plastic bag ban after the court dismissed a challenge to the bylaw by the Canadian Plastic Bag Association.
On the Sunshine Coast, some local businesses like the IGA in Wilson Creek, Madeira Park and Gibsons have decided to take matters into their own hands and have banned the use of plastic bags in their stores.
