Industry Committee on May 11th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

We'll now go to MP Lambropoulos.

You have the floor for five minutes.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all our witnesses for being here and for providing the information that you've brought us today.

If I might add, I think Ms. Petrunic's response was brilliant. Thank you for that. I don't think that was a waste of time at all.

My first question would go to Mr. Sobot.

Several times you mentioned your Saint-Laurent plant. I am the member of Parliament for Saint-Laurent.

[Veso Sobot]

You are.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

I'm glad that we're helping in this transition and in making things safer with regard to transporting oil and gas while it's still around. I know you mentioned that we have to stop scaring companies and investors away by saying we're going to be banning plastics. As you know and has been mentioned on this call several times, it's the single-use plastics that will eventually be banned. What that basically means is plastics that are made up of different kinds of plastic that are not able to be recycled.

As to the reason for the use of these plastics, I know that the ones you find in supermarkets, for example, are to keep freshness. They're plastics that are really used to maintain longer freshness for certain products. I'm sure that different types of plastics that are not recyclable are used for other reasons as well, but I wonder what your take is on finding plastics that are more easily recyclable and that can help us in our plan to make the environment a bit better.

I know you said there is no proof of plastic being toxic. However, we know our fish and our birds eat the plastic, we see it ends up in our water sources and we see it's definitely a huge contributor to the pollution we find all around the world.

Can you comment on that, and then anyone else who would like to raise their hand can comment on it as well?

[Veso Sobot]

Emmanuella, thank you so much for the question.

That Saint-Laurent plant is a great plant for us. It's been there since 1983. We appreciate the workforce there, and the innovation that's come out of there.

Our company recycles about 22 million pounds of plastic a year. It goes into products that are sold to Home Depot, Rona, Lowe's and big box stores. It's used for drainage pipes, rainwater leaders and also in the construction sector.

The products we make are long life. Water mains are supposed to last 100 to 200 years. Certainly, ours do, because they don't rust. The other alternatives have a much shorter lifespan.

When we talk about single-use plastics, I totally agree with you. Litter is the issue with single-use plastics, and Environment Canada should deal with that, as such. The provinces have jurisdiction over litter, not the federal government. The federal government should work in coalition with all the provinces to make a better recycling program for all plastics.

We live in a modern economy. Look around you. It is impossible to ban plastics, even though the government has signalled that it is going to ban a certain number of them by using a blunt instrument called CEPA, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. It needs to change CEPA, so that it can deal with environmental issues without calling for bans. That's the big error made by Environment Canada.

We're currently in a pilot program with Environment Canada. We collect oxygen masks, IV tubing and a couple of other plastic products from five major hospitals in downtown Toronto, and we recycle that material into longer-life products. There are many solutions out there that Canadian companies are providing. There's no need to ban anything.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Ms. Waridel, the floor is yours.

[Dr. Laure Waridel]

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to correct Mr. Sobot about the scientific studies that show toxic effects on certain types of plastic. Europe has actually banned phthalates in a number of products because they are known to be toxic and they affect the health of children and babies in particular.

We therefore need to ban certain types of plastic, those that are the most harmful to health. Once again, it is a matter of being informed by science. We must extend the principle of responsibility to producers. It's not just about litter. We must consider the entire life cycle of plastics. Plastic producers must be made responsible for the environmental impact of all their products.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

I have a point of order, Madam Chair, that deals with the functioning of the meeting. I'm curious how we're going to carry on, how both the witness and the previous member of Parliament are going to carry on talking in the committee without these headsets that are actually partly made of plastic. We all have the same headsets. They are made of plastic.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

While I appreciate your point of order, it actually isn't a—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

I'm just curious how we're going to speak in committee when these are banned.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

MP Poilievre, that is not a point of order. While I appreciate your intervention, that is not a point of order.

That being said, that is our time for today. I'd like to thank all of the witnesses for being here today and for your excellent testimony. For those who wanted to also provide a briefing to the committee, if you can make sure to get it to the clerk, the clerk will make sure to circulate it, in both official languages, to all committee members.

I know, Monsieur Vincent, that you didn't have an opportunity to speak, because of the lack of headsets. If you would like to submit something in writing to the clerk, we'll make sure all members get it.

Thank you to everyone in the room for making today possible.

My thanks to the interpreters for their hard work, as usual.

The meeting is adjourned.