{"id":5119,"date":"2018-09-20T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T17:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=5119"},"modified":"2019-11-06T03:28:35","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:28:35","slug":"feds-miss-opportunity-to-use-law-to-tackle-plastic-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/5119\/feds-miss-opportunity-to-use-law-to-tackle-plastic-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds miss opportunity to use law to tackle plastic pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 20, 2018 (OTTAWA) –<\/strong> Ecojustice lawyer, James Gunvaldsen Klaassen, made the following statement in reaction to Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna\u2019s failure to address a request to add plastics to the Priority Substances List under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed that the minister has ignored her legal duty and delayed her response to our request to add plastics to CEPA\u2019s Priority Substances List. This is a missed opportunity for government to get on with the task of assessing the harm caused by certain classes of plastic products and packaging that are devastating Canada\u2019s marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, and move forward with legally binding solutions to address plastic pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are cautiously optimistic that government has signalled during G7 talks in Halifax that it will be taking steps to address plastic pollution in other ways, the government must use the legal tools it has at hand do its part now to tackle plastic waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic pollution is a major global issue impacting the environment, biodiversity and human health. In Canada, tiny particles of plastic are already showing up in our drinking water, the air we breathe and our food chain. It\u2019s paramount that government be doing all it can to prevent plastic pollution from continuing to wreak havoc on our soils, waterways and oceans \u00ad\u2014 and sparing communities from bearing the brunt of the harm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Priority Substances List under CEPA requires the minister to provide a response that directly addresses the request submitted \u2014 Minister McKenna failed to do this. We will be requesting that she provide a clearer, more detailed response on how the government plans to address our request.\u201d<\/p>\n

About<\/strong><\/p>\n

In June 2018, 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), filed an application urging Minister McKenna to add plastics \u2014 including microplastics, microfibers and single-use plastics \u2014 to the Priority Substances List under CEPA.<\/p>\n

Addition to the Priority Substances List requires the government to look at whether plastics meet the legal definition under CEPA of \u201ctoxic\u201d to the health of Canadians and\/or the environment. If they are found to be \u201ctoxic\u201d the government must take measures to prevent or control the risk presented by plastic to human health and the environment.<\/p>\n

-END-<\/p>\n

For media inquiries at EcoJustice, please contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Gunvaldsen Klaassen, lawyer | Ecojustice
\nTo arrange an interview, please contact Venetia Jones, 613 562 5269, vjones@ecojustice.ca<\/p>\n

For media inqueries at Greenpeace, please contact:<\/b><\/p>\n

Loujain Kurdi, Communications Officer, Greenpeace Canada, +1 (514) 577-6657,\u00a0loujain.kurdi@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Read the MECC’s reply here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 20, 2018 (OTTAWA) – Ecojustice lawyer, James Gunvaldsen Klaassen, made the following statement in reaction to Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna\u2019s failure to address a request…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[71],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-5119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-sustainably","tag-plastic","p4-page-type-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5119"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5125,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119\/revisions\/5125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5119"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=5119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}