A Saskatchewan MP is hoping to make the move to ban single-use plastics disintegrate like a soggy paper straw.
“What inspired me about my Private Member’s Bill 380 was my two boys. And they hate the paper straw for milkshakes, for Slurpees, or anything. They suck,” Conservative representative for Saskatoon-University Corey Tochor said in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“My bill respects the science that has shown that paper straws are actually worse for the environment, worse for your health, worse for our economy.”
Tochor’s bill, which was introduced for first reading in February, moves to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and delete plastic manufactured items from a list of toxic substances.
The federal government’s move to ban single-use plastics has been the subject of legal turmoil, even as restaurants and fast food outlets have been switching to alternatives like paper straws, paper bags and wooden cutlery.
What inspired me to introduce bill C-380 was my two boys, they know paper straws are no good, for milkshakes, pop… let’s face it, those straws suck. But worst of all paper straws are not even good for you.<br><br>Sign this petition below to help save plastic straws:… <a href=”https://t.co/xqdj9bhxHp”>https://t.co/xqdj9bhxHp</a>
—@ctochor
Tochor’s fellow Conservative MP Branden Leslie from Manitoba picked apart the rationale for the ban on the video posted to X.
“Plastic straws, they [are] the perfect scapegoat for the virtue signaling left. If we ban these straws, we’ll save the tortoises, they’ll save the planet and we’ll all be so much happier,” Leslie said in the video. “It turns out, when you don’t look at what the alternatives are going to do and what they’re going to be, you have worse environmental outcomes and worse human outcomes too.”
What does the science say?
One of Leslie and Tochor’s arguments centres on research finding that paper straws contain a group of synthetic chemicals known as poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These are also known as ‘forever chemicals,’ as they do not break down over time.
Markus Brinkmann, associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s school of environment and sustainability, said these PFAS can accumulate in humans and wildlife, and the compounding effect can lead to a knock-on effect on health.
“That starts from effects on the immune system, to disregulation of our metabolism, all the way up to cancer, which is certainly concerning,” he said.
Blue Sky862:13:20Sask MP wants to save plastic straws
A 2023 study conducted in Belgium and published in the Food Additives and Contaminants Journal looked at several different types of straws, including paper, bamboo, glass and steel. Paper and bamboo straws were more likely to have PFAS than the other brands of straws, including plastic, but only stainless steel straws were free of these damaging chemicals.
Given the prevalence of these PFAS, Brinkmann said a blanket push to get rid of single use plastics makes little sense to him.
“In my view, I believe that the video does raise a couple of really important questions, but then also gets some of these signs perhaps wrong, or misrepresents the facts to some extent,” he said, pointing to the video’s targeting of a ban on plastic bags.
That ban has led to people accumulating reusable bags that take more energy to create and may also eventually make their way into landfills, another point raised in the MPs’ video on X.
“The conclusion from that, in my view, should not be to bring the single-use plastic bags back,” Brinkmann said
He said the discussion should instead focus on how to make people make better behavioural choices, like remembering to bring their reusable bags while shopping.
Kyle Forrest had sustainable business decisions in mind when he opened up the Paddy Wagon restaurant in Regina last year. While plastic products were cheaper, he and his business partner decided to use products made of sugarcane for their to-go containers.
“I think there’s lots of different options on the market these days,” Forrest said.
He said it comes down to having a conversation with suppliers to find products that take sustainability into account, even if they may be more expensive.
“I do know as an application that the paper straw is the worst invention ever made. It’s not feasible, it doesn’t do a good job,” he said with a laugh, explaining that’s why his restaurant doesn’t stock any type of straws.
Living in a plastic world
The MPs’ X video also said only about one per cent of plastics in Canada will leak into the environment.
Brinkmann said this is true, but that if you take into account that Canadians ship 2.8 billion tons of plastics to the landfill, one per cent making it into the environment and staying there is a major concern.
“I would say we are now living on a plastic planet. Almost everything we come into contact with each and every single day is made from plastic,” he said.
“And so reducing it as much as we can is certainly leading to meaningful change.”