The Alberta government has filed a notice with the Federal Court to intervene in a legal challenge of the Trudeau government’s move to list all plastics as a toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
In August, more than two dozen plastic makers, who united under the banner of the Responsible Plastic Use Coalition, asked the Federal Court to put an end to Ottawa’s impending ban. The $29-billion industry is also suing the federal government for listing plastic as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
The Alberta government is intervening in both cases. Plastic is not toxic, but it is necessary to achieve carbon reduction goals, Premier Jason Kenney said Thursday morning.
“We cannot live our modern lives without petrochemical products, without plastic products,” Kenney said. “We cannot achieve carbon reduction goals without the efficiency and the lightness of plastic products.”
The Canadian government added all “plastic manufactured items” to Schedule 1 on the List of Toxic Substances of the Canadian Environment Protection Act in May 2021.
In June 2021, Responsible Plastics filed its first Notice of Application for judicial review in the Federal Court of Canada, arguing that the Order is unconstitutional, unreasonable and outside the enabling authority granted to the government by the Environment Protection Act.
The group filed a second suit in June 2022 against Ottawa’s ban on single-use plastics, again arguing the ban is unconstitutional and that Ottawa has no evidence that single-use plastics are toxic.
The Premier said it’s clear the federal government’s actions are an unconstitutional infringement on Alberta’s provincial jurisdiction under the Constitution.
“The federal government has once again drifted out of its lane, straying into constitutional territory and has no legal right to be in it,” he said.
Ottawa’s listing also presents a threat to Alberta’s economic interests. The province has the largest petrochemical sector in Canada and is set to expand “thanks in part to the petrochemical strategy in Alberta’s recovery plan,” Kenney said.
Alberta has also attracted an additional $18 billion of announced investments in low emitting petrochemical projects and the federal government is ignoring innovation in the industry, which includes the industry of a “circular economy for plastics,” he said.
“(Plastics) are recycled and where they re enter the market by making unilateral decisions to label plastic items as toxic, the federal government has demonstrated that it’s not interested in an evidence based approach to the subject, like so many others that relate to Alberta’s economic interests,” Kenney said.
The Premier said he hopes Quebec and Ontario will join Alberta in intervening, as both provinces have large petrochemical industries.
The federal government’s action has already negatively affected investment in the province’s petrochemical sector, according to a government briefing. An analysis by the Ministry of Energy indicated that more than $30 billion is at risk because of the “toxic” designation.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said he’s confident the government’s regulations will be upheld. His office is recommending Canadians use alternatives like wooden cutlery and paper straws, which have been found to be linked to cancer.
