Two top Liberal ministers announced their intention to challenge the Federal Court’s decision regarding Ottawa’s ban on single-use plastics.
Environment and Justice Ministers, Steven Guilbeault and Arif Virani’s joint statement, released on Monday, refused to concede defeat in the face of the Federal Court’s ruling last week.
The Federal Court found that the Liberal government’s ban on single-use plastics was an “unreasonable and unconstitutional” policy. The ruling determined that the government exceeded its jurisdictional powers and that the categorization of plastics as toxic substances in Schedule 1 under environmental legislation was too broad of a classification, as previously reported by True North.
“Our government intends to appeal the Federal Court’s decision and we are exploring all options to continue leading the fight against plastic pollution,” wrote Guilbeault and Virani.
Guilbeault and Virani claimed in their joint statement that the previous plastics ban has already led to significant reductions in plastic pollution.
“We introduced a ban on six harmful single-use plastic items,” read the statement.
The aim was to fully ban their sale and export by the end of 2025.
Guilbeault has also refused to accept defeat in the wake of another ruling by the Supreme Court.
In October, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith criticized Guilbeault for the federal government’s misplaced victory lap following its loss in the Supreme Court which found that a large part of the ‘no more pipelines act’ was unconstitutional, as previously reported by True North.
“Guilbeault does not seem to acknowledge how badly he lost,” said Smith in a press conference following the Impact Assessment Act ruling.
Guilbeault, while consistent in refusing to claim defeat, has this time instead shifted blame to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
“Pierre Poilievre is once again spreading misinformation, saying our government wants to ‘ban all plastics’ and that all plastics are perfectly safe. But he is dead wrong and shows he prefers to side with big plastic companies rather than with Canadians,” read Guilbeault and Virani’s statement.
With the statement only just being released, Poilievre has yet to respond.
