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B.C. judge approves Victoria's plastic bag bylaw going into effect in July

#826 of 2564 articles from the Special Report: Race Against Climate Change
woman, grocery store, montreal
A woman leaves a grocery store on Friday, May 15, 2015 in Montreal. Victoria is the latest Canadian city to move ahead with a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags. File photo by The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

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The mayor of Victoria is hailing a court victory allowing the city to enact a bylaw that will prohibit grocery stores from offering or selling plastic bags to shoppers.

Lisa Helps says in a news release that the B.C. Supreme Court decision represents an important step in moving away from unsustainable business practices that create high volumes of waste from single-use plastic bags.

The Canadian Plastic Bag Association challenged the bylaw, saying it amounts to an environmental regulation that the city does not have the power to enact without provincial approval.

Justice Nathan Smith says the bylaw is characterized as a business regulation and even though some councillors may have been motivated by broad concerns for the environment, they were considering ways in which discarded plastic bags impact municipal facilities and services.

The bylaw that goes into effect in July calls on businesses to charge customers 15 cents for a paper bag and $1 for a reusable bag, but small paper bags used for items such as bulk foods, meat, bakery goods and plants would still be free.

Fees would increase next January to 25 cents for a paper bag and $2 for a reusable bag.

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