Vancouver Island MP leading push for national strategy to phase out plastic

A Vancouver Island MP is looking to spur action on a national plan to deal with plastic clogging our oceans.

“We need to redesign the plastics economy and we need producer accountability.”

The NDP’s Gord Johns, representing Courtenay-Alberni,  is submitting a bill written with the help of the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law program.

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It lays out the reduction of single-use plastics and a plan to deal with derelict fishing gear.

Johns says the federal government needs less talk and more action.

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“The government has made a promise that at the G7 they are going to create a framework and take action, but we have yet hear their plan,” he said.

“Others in the G7 and around the world are putting forward solutions and are taking actions, so I don’t know why the government of Canada is taking its time.”

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Johns says cities like Vancouver and Montreal are showing leadership on plastics — and now we need the same leadership nationally.

“I appreciate the government committing to creating a charter to deal with ocean plastics, but what Canadians want is a plan, and they want to know that it’s going to take action — that this action’s going to take place this year instead of waiting for years down the road.”