A summary of the day's activities of Wednesday, October 7, follows. 

Federal Government Relief Measures

  • There were no federal government relief measures announced today.

Federal Government Briefings

There were no federal government briefings on COVID-19, but the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Jonathan Wilkinson, announced details of the federal government's plan to ban certain single-use plastics.

The federal government first announced in June 2019 that it would move to ban some single-use plastics, stating at the time that the ban could take effect as early as 2021. This morning, Minister Wilkinson announced the next steps in the federal government's plan to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030. The plan will protect wildlife and Canadian waters, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs.

A key part of the plan is a ban on harmful single-use plastic items where there is evidence that they are found in the environment, are often not recycled, and have readily available alternatives. Based on those criteria, the six items the Government proposes to ban are plastic checkout bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery, and food ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics.

This list of items was published today in the discussion paper Proposed Integrated Management Approach to Plastic Products to Prevent Waste and Pollution. The news release issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada states: "This plan also proposes improvements to recover and recycle plastic, so it stays in our economy and out of the environment. The Government of Canada is proposing to establish recycled content requirements in products and packaging. This will drive investment in recycling infrastructure and spur innovation in technology and product design to extend the life of plastic materials."

The discussion paper is open to public comments until December 9, 2020. The government then plans to finalize regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act by the end of 2021.

Minister Wilkinson said the federal government was collaborating with provinces and territories through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. He pointed out that all federal, provincial and territorial governments agreed to lay out a vision for a circular economy for plastics and to implement a two-phase action plan under the Canada-wide Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste. The aim of the strategy is to strengthen existing programs and increase Canada's capacity to reuse and recover more plastics through the development of pan-Canadian targets to ensure that rules are consistent and transparent across the country, and make producers and sellers of plastic products responsible for collecting them.

Minister Wilkinson also took the opportunity to announce over $2M through the Zero Plastic Waste Initiative for 14 new Canadian-led plastic reduction initiatives. These projects are led by communities, organizations, and institutions, and will promote the development of new and innovative solutions to prevent, capture and remove plastic pollution from the environment.

Statement of Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the government was providing an additional $176 million this year to help expand access for critical mental health and addictions supports during COVID-19. This funding is part of the province's investment of $3.8 billion over 10 years to build a modern, connected and comprehensive high-quality care system for mental health and addictions under Ontario's comprehensive plan, A Roadmap to Wellness.

Before making his announcement, Premier Ford said, "Let me be very clear. This Thanksgiving we are asking that you spend the holiday with just your household and that means sitting down for dinner with only the people you live with. If you are alone, you can pair up with one other household but just only one." He then added, "As we fight to flatten the next curve, we need to hunker down, be extremely vigilant, reduce our close contacts and limit the number of people we spend time with."

Premier Ford reiterated that he was not inclined to prohibit indoor dining in Toronto bars and restaurants, as recommended Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa. Premier Ford said, "I just can't put 7,600 people and their livelihood at risk and just shut them down because of a few bad actors." He added, "The Minister of Labour will be in there with some pretty heavy finds. Well put the protocols in place to keep these businesses open. We have to be very, very careful when we are messing with people's lives like this."

Statement of Quebec Premier François Legault

Quebec Premier François Legault held a news conference on COVID-19 today. Minister of Heath and Social Services Christian Dubé and Director of Public Health Dr. Horacio Arruda joined him. 

Premier Legault began the news conference by expressing his concern with the doubling COVID-19 hospitalizations in the past two weeks. Premier Legault noted Quebec's health care system was very fragile. He then added, "If we continue in the same way, there is risk that we won't be able to treat every Quebecer that needs it."

He acknowledged the government took though decisions of the past two weeks to protect schools and the economy as much as possible. "I know it's though" he said, "but we don't have a choice." 

Premier Legault urged Quebecers to reduce their contacts to limit spread of the virus and to save Quebec's health care system.

His final message was clear, "Please stay home. You can go to school or go to work but otherwise stay home. Courage everyone."

Elsewhere in Canada

Alberta

Yesterday, Alberta Health Services announced 276 new cases of COVID-19 and one death.

The province announced the Natural Gas Vision and Strategy as a key part of Alberta's Recovery Plan. The Plan details the actions Alberta's government will take to grow the sector and seize emerging opportunities for clean hydrogen, petrochemical manufacturing, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and plastics recycling.

British Columbia

Yesterday, Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's Provincial Health Officer, and Stephen Brown, deputy Minister of Health, announced 102 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths. There are 71 individuals hospitalized, 16 of whom are in intensive care. There are 1,384 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,089 people under active public health monitoring because of known exposures.

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