Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Given the urgent need to reduce the city's environmental footprint, Montreal will move to fully ban the distribution of plastic bags by the end of 2020, Mayor Valerie Plante said Feb 5.

Canada's restaurant owners are eager to do their part to curb this country's addiction to plastics, their association says, but they want the government to leave time for them to adapt to a ban on plastic take-out containers.Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Thursday Ottawa's promised ban on many single-use plastics is coming in 2021 after a scientific assessment of plastic pollution released Thursday found that the waste is harmful to the environment.The list of what will be banned is still in development.Carol Patterson, national vice-president at Restaurants Canada, said the industry needs a reasonable time to find and procure alternatives that are both affordable and better for the environment.“We are really calling on the government to have an approach that takes into account the full life cycle of products but also providing those reasonable timelines for safe and functional alternatives to enter the market,'' Patterson said.At the same time as restaurants are grappling with finding non-plastic options, they are seeing a surge in demand for take-out containers from the explosion of online food-delivery services.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he's prepared to appoint a special mediator to an intensifying contract dispute at the Co-op oil refinery in Regina, but only if the union removes its barricades.

Quebec will expand its deposit system to include different kinds of alcohol and beverage containers in an effort to recycle more products and reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.

A national ban on many single-use plastics is on track for next year after a government report concluded Thursday that there is more than enough evidence proving plastic pollution is harmful.

A ban on distributing retail plastic bags in Newfoundland and Labrador will come into effect on July 1.

The company that makes Marlboro cigarettes saw in late 2018 the opportunity to offset declining tobacco sales with a $13 billion investment in Juul, the e-cigarette maker.

Plain, but not-so simple Norman Pridgeon, vice-president, sales – JTI-Macdonald Corp., on how tobacco companies and c-stores can work together to navigate the new world of plain packaging.