Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the hon. member for his work on marine pollution. I found his comments interesting. He led by commenting that this was an issue about which coastal communities in B.C. and across Canada should care deeply. I would go one step further, and I am sure he would agree, to suggest that marine pollution, particularly plastic pollution, is an issue that has captured the attention of the entire world.
There is no question that plastics are choking our oceans, lakes and rivers, some of the most treasured that Canadians know and love. I know my colleague from B.C. has put a lot of energy into this and represents coastal communities. Some of us would be very familiar with some of the very picturesque places, like Tofino, which the hon. member represents.
Back home for me in Central Nova, we have places like Melmerby Beach, Martinique Beach and Clam Harbour that are really a sight to behold. We need to do our best to protect these gems for our kids and grandkids, so they can benefit from the marine environments we love so much.
In his remarks, my colleague acknowledges that our government is familiar with the critical problem of plastic pollution in our waterways. For quite some period of time, he has been asking us what we are doing on this issue.
I would like to take this opportunity to survey some of the actions we are taking and offer to him that we are willing to continue to work in partnership as we move forward.
As a government, we have made it a priority to address oceans health and plastics pollution under our G7 presidency in 2018. During the G7 leaders' summit in June, we launched the ocean plastic charter and the Charlevoix blueprint for healthy oceans.
We have also committed $100 million to help vulnerable regions improve their waste management practices and combat plastic pollution. This is no small thing, $100 million can go a long way to helping move the needle on this important file. In fact, while the Minister of Environment and Climate Change was recently in my home province of Nova Scotia for the G7 summit, she announced that we would be eliminating the unnecessary use of plastics in government meetings and, importantly, committed to reducing the Government of Canada's use of plastics by 75% by the year 2030.
Further to this, we regulated the manufacture, import and sale of microbeads in toiletries earlier this year. We made a commitment to procure only sustainable plastic products.
We are taking serious steps forward on this important issue. The fact is that federal, provincial and territorial governments are currently working together, through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, to develop a national approach that responds to the charter and moves toward zero plastic waste. Our shared goal is to keep all types of plastics out of our landfills and out of our marine environment, in particular.
This is an ambitious vision and it is going to require action by governments, industry, consumers and individuals. We are all working with these partners to identify innovative ideas to improve the design, use and management of plastic products.
I am very interested in some of the remarks my colleague made about lost fishing gear. If this is an area where we can work in partnership with him and other folks in Canadian communities, I would be pleased to do so.
There is no one solution that will allow us to completely remove plastics from the marine environment. It is going to take a varied approach, considering different aspects where we can reduce our plastics. We recognize the need to address single-use plastics in Canada, such as straws or bags, but we need to develop a more comprehensive approach to effectively address this issue. This includes evaluating all available policy options, which I am willing to do.
I genuinely welcome the member's continued effort on this important file.
