{"id":2324,"date":"2018-06-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/uncategorized\/2324\/press-release-g7-summit-environmental-groups-call-on-minister-mckenna-to-use-law-crack-down-on-plastic-pollution\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T04:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T08:22:09","slug":"press-release-g7-summit-environmental-groups-call-on-minister-mckenna-to-use-law-crack-down-on-plastic-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/2324\/press-release-g7-summit-environmental-groups-call-on-minister-mckenna-to-use-law-crack-down-on-plastic-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"PRESS RELEASE: G7 Summit: Environmental groups call on Minister McKenna to use law, crack down on plastic pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

June 7, 2018 (OTTAWA) \u2013<\/strong> On the eve of the G7 Summit meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, environmental groups are calling on Canada\u2019s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna to crack down on plastic pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic pollution is consuming our oceans, poisoning wildlife, and contaminating our food chain,\u201d said Ecojustice lawyer James Gunvaldsen Klaassen. \u201cIt is time for Canada to use the legal tools it has at hand to reduce plastic production, waste, and pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n

A request filed by Ecojustice lawyers, on behalf of the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), Citizens\u2019 Network on Waste Management, David Suzuki Foundation, Ecology Action Centre, Environmental Defence, \u00c9quiterre, Greenpeace Canada, Living Oceans Society, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, and Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA), urges Minister McKenna to add plastics \u2014 including microplastics, microfibers and single-use plastics \u2014 to the Priority substances list under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA, 1999). The Minister is required by law to respond within 90 days to today\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Inclusion of plastics on CEPA\u2019s Priority Substance List would require the Minister to formally assess the harm caused by plastic pollution and is the first step toward restricting or banning specific classes of plastic products and packaging. \u201cCorporations have created and continue to perpetuate an addiction to plastic that comes at a steep cost to the environment,\u201d said Farrah Khan, of Greenpeace Canada. \u201cThe earth cannot digest plastic, so plastic pollution simply accumulates and persists in our environment for centuries, contaminating waterways, biodiversity, and our bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Canada, less than 11 per cent of plastic is recycled. Plastic microfibers have been found in rivers, lakes and oceans \u2014 and as a result, our drinking water and food. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastics in our oceans than fish.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany coastal communities rely on marine ecosystems for their livelihood,\u201d said Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre. \u201cWith Canada\u2019s marine health at risk as a result of plastic pollution, we must do more to protect the biodiversity of our oceans.\u201d<\/p>\n

International efforts are being undertaken to resolve this global crisis, including the European Union\u2019s recent proposal to ban microplastics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlong with the rest of the world, Canada now finds itself in a plastics crisis that without action, will only get worse,\u201d said Muhannad Malas, Toxics Program Manager for Environmental Defence. \u201cBy calling on Canada to get tough on plastic pollution, we hope to see stronger laws put in place that will hold industry and businesses accountable for their mess and keep our waters clean. The time for the government to act is now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMarine as well as freshwater systems like the Great Lakes \u2013 St. Lawrence River Basin are under assault from plastics and their additives heedlessly produced, and unceremoniously dumped, in the environment. The toll on present and future generations of humans, fish, and wildlife is incalculable. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act provides the authority and the instruments necessary to address this emerging crisis in Canada. It is past due for the federal government to take up the challenge,\u201d said CELA lawyer Joseph Castrilli.<\/p>\n

-30-<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 The G7 Summit meeting will be held June 8-9 in Charlevoix, Quebec. One of the five governing themes of this year\u2019s meeting is, Working Together on Climate Change, Oceans and Clean Energy, with discussion set to tackle the troubling state of marine health and the urgent need to improve it.<\/p>\n

\u2022 On May 28, 2018 the EU formally proposed a ban on a variety of single use plastics, calling in part for the collection and recycling of nearly all plastic bottles by 2025.<\/p>\n

FOR MORE INFORMATION:<\/strong>
\nJames Gunvaldsen Klaassen, Lawyer | Ecojustice
\n902-417-1700 ext. 642
\njgunvaldsenklaassen@ecojustice.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Elaine MacDonald, Program Director, Healthy Communities | Ecojustice
\n416-368-7533 ext. 527, mobile 416-564-4400
\nemacdonald@ecojustice.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Joseph Castrilli, Counsel \/ Fe de Leon, Researcher and Paralegal | CELA
\n416-960-2284 ext. 7223
\ncastrillij@sympatico.ca<\/a> and deleonf@cela.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

John Jackson, Coordinator | Citizens\u2019 Network on Waste Management
\n519-744-7503
\njjackson@web.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Brendan Glausner, Communications Manager | David Suzuki Foundation
\n604-356-8829
\nbGlausner@davidsuzuki.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Butler, Executive Director | Ecology Action Center
\n902-266-5401
\naction@ecologyaction.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah Jamal, Toxics Program Coordinator | Environmental Defence
\n905-921-7786 (cell), 416-323-9521 ext. 251 (work)
\nsjamal@environmentaldefence.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Camille Gagn\u00e9-Raynauld | \u00c9quiterre
\n514-605-2000
\ncgraynauld@equiterre.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Farrah Khan, Campaigner, Arctic and Plastics | Greenpeace
\n647-886-2189
\nfarrah.khan@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Karen Wristen, Executive Director | Living Oceans Society
\n604-788-5634
\nkwristen@livingoceans.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Program Director | Sierra Club Foundation
\n902- 444 -7096
\ngretchenf@sierraclub.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Emily Alfred, Waste Campaigner | Toronto Environmental Alliance
\n416-543-1542
\nemily@torontoenvironment.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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