TORONTO – Call it a swift kick in the plastic bag.
Toronto city council voted Wednesday to ban plastic bags effective Jan. 1 and to scrap the city’s five-cent bag fee starting July 1.
City councillors voted 27-17 Wednesday to prohibit all Toronto retail stores from providing customers with single-use plastic bags starting next year. Councillors also voted 23-21 to trash the three-year old nickel fee for plastic bags effective next month.
Canada’s largest city came to the decision to ban plastic bags in a surprising way. Councillors had been debating Mayor Rob Ford’s push to kill the plastic bag fee when Councillor David Shiner introduced a motion to ban bags. The bag ban vote came without legal advice, with no public consultation, no report from city staff and no statutory notice.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Toronto Sun
