Evidence of meeting #154 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was packaging.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

James D. Downham  President and Chief Executive Officer, PAC Packaging Consortium
Geneviève Dionne  Director, Eco-conception, Circular Economy, Éco Entreprises Québec
Keith Brooks  Programs Director, Environmental Defence Canada
Andrew Telfer  Vice-President, Health, Wellness and Industry Relations, Retail Council of Canada
Philippe Cantin  Senior Director, Circular Economy and Sustainable Innovation, Montreal Office, Retail Council of Canada
Dan Lantz  Director, Sustainability, PAC Packaging Consortium
Vito Buonsante  Plastic Program Manager, Environmental Defence Canada

5:20 p.m.

Senior Director, Circular Economy and Sustainable Innovation, Montreal Office, Retail Council of Canada

Philippe Cantin

That is correct. Metro Vancouver and the City of Calgary have extensive landfill bans on recyclables.

5:20 p.m.

NDP

Wayne Stetski NDP Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Fibres.

5:20 p.m.

Senior Director, Circular Economy and Sustainable Innovation, Montreal Office, Retail Council of Canada

Philippe Cantin

Yes, for fibres: paper and cardboard.

5:25 p.m.

NDP

Wayne Stetski NDP Kootenay—Columbia, BC

So, it's led by the municipality.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal John Aldag

Wayne, the comment from the analyst is that it may have been referring to organics in Quebec through regulation and diverting those into other streams for composting and other energy uses. It might have been that.

Anyway, you still have a minute and a half.

5:25 p.m.

NDP

Wayne Stetski NDP Kootenay—Columbia, BC

It's currently led by municipalities, but do you think that there's potentially a role for the federal government in terms of banning recyclables' going into landfills?

5:25 p.m.

Senior Director, Circular Economy and Sustainable Innovation, Montreal Office, Retail Council of Canada

Philippe Cantin

As we mentioned, it's a tool in the tool box. We would welcome harmonization through federal actions, for sure, but it's one item in the tool box. It needs to be put together with other actions as well.

5:25 p.m.

President and Chief Executive Officer, PAC Packaging Consortium

James D. Downham

It's harmonization at the municipal level.

5:25 p.m.

Director, Sustainability, PAC Packaging Consortium

Dan Lantz

If you equate waste and carbon, which it really is in the grand scheme of things and you can do a carbon plan for Canada.... If you did a waste plan for Canada, you would have authority and jurisdiction to do what you wanted, including putting in place bans on materials going to disposal.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal John Aldag

This has been an excellent panel with many good questions and discussions.

Thank you to each of the witnesses for being here today. I think you've given us a lot of additional material that we'll be working to incorporate in our report.

Members, we had advertised that we would go in camera for committee business today, but the official opposition asked us to defer that until Wednesday. We'll set aside half an hour at the end of the Wednesday meeting for in camera business, including drafting instructions and some other business we need to do.

With that, I think we are finished for today. I'm going to end the meeting, but I do have a quick announcement to make after we end the official part of the meeting.

The meeting is adjourned.