Staff photo
Another attempt to introduce a plastic bag ban in the Municipality of Sioux Lookout has been shot down.
Council has voted 4-2 against pursing a municipal by-law and Cory Lego says he’s against government getting into businesses business.
“A lot of people make their own choices. I believe in individual choices and people make their own choice to either take a bag or not a bag. I offer that at my business. People say no, no thanks. So, I don’t want to see us go down that road.”
Mayor Doug Lawrance says the Trudeau government is expected to introduce its own rules on plastic bags and other disposable goods sometime this year.
“If it’s done at a national level, the alternatives available will be on a full-market basis, not just in our town, and they will be much more available, and I think it will be a much better transition for merchants. I think we’re going to go in this direction regardless.”
Connor Howie and Joyce Timpson pushed for a bylaw relating to a ban on plastic bags.
Timpson believes Sioux Lookout should grab the bull by the horns.
“Let’s be with the program again and just do it and make a strong statement by this initiative. Help the people here. They’ll be ready for it when the broader initiatives come out from the federal government. They’ll be ready for what they need to be doing.”
Connor Howie adds, “Now is the time to be progressive and ban plastic bags. I think the majority of plastic bags do end up in landfills. They don’t get re-used. I know people say, ‘you know I use them to put my cat litter in’. I think they’re going to end up in the landfill ultimately.”
Howie notes recent statistics indicate 34 million plastic bags end up in the landfill each day.
Council has been dealing with the possibility of a plastic bag ban by-law since 2007, but the idea has been rejected on a couple of occasions.
