Alberta Vows to Continue Fight Against National Plastics Ban as Ottawa Files Appeal

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivers the state of the province address in Edmonton on Oct. 25, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jason Fransson

The Alberta government says it will continue to battle Ottawa in court over its efforts to implement a nationwide plastics ban.

The Federal Court of Canada ruled on Nov. 16 that the Liberal government’s order classifying manufactured plastic items as “toxic” was “unreasonable and unconstitutional.” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, four days later, announced the government would appeal the ruling.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says by appealing the decision, Ottawa is “ignoring” both the law and “reality” and that her government will intervene in the appeal in order to defend the province’s constitutional jurisdiction and economy.

“Ottawa cannot assume regulatory authority over any substance simply by designating it as toxic,” said Ms. Smith during a Dec. 19 press conference. “We will continue to push back against Ottawa’s unconstitutional actions, including through this legal action until they listen. The stakes are too high to do anything less.”

Plastic manufactured items were added to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in 2021. Once a material is labelled as toxic under the act, it allows Ottawa to control how that substance is manufactured, sold, and disposed of.

Alberta and Saskatchewan both joined a case before the courts to evaluate the legality of the policy in 2022. The case was brought forward by the Responsible Plastic Users Coalition, made up of the companies Dow Chemical, Imperial Oil, and Nova Chemicals. They argued that the federal government had failed to provide enough scientific evidence to justify the regulations.

Although the judge ruled in their favour, calling the government’s order “invalid and unlawful,” Ms. Smith said there are no guarantees the appeal won’t go Ottawa’s way.  Should the feds win, she said, having plastics classified as toxic would be “a disaster for Alberta’s and Canada’s economies.”

“It would destroy our petrochemical industry, driving away tens of billions of dollars in investments and eliminating tens of thousands of jobs,” she said.

If Ottawa were to be successful in its appeal, grocery retailers would be compelled to reduce food plastic packaging, a move that Mr. Guilbeault maintains Canadians want.

“The body of scientific evidence showing the impacts on human health, on the environment of plastic pollution, is undebatable. And the Canadian public has been asking us to do this,” he told reporters on Nov. 20.

In August, Mr. Guilbeault declared the government’s commitment to “zero plastic waste,” citing the need to address climate change and pollution.

He told reporters that Canadians are “tired of seeing plastic pollution in their neighbourhood and in our streets, in our environment, clogging our waterways, polluting our oceans.”

Ottawa has already banned the manufacturing and importation of single-use plastics—which included checkout bags, ring carriers, stir sticks, straws, cutlery, and food service ware—as part of a goal to obtain zero plastic waste by 2030.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.