Banning Plastic Bags, Don Woodstock and a Vision for improving our environment

One of the first people to talk to me about the importance of baning plastic bags to improve our environment was Don Woodstock, our Liberal candidate in 2007 in Southdale.

Don has continued to put a major effort into improving our environment, making presentations to the City of Winnipeg about banning plastic bags and other environmental issues, promoting the move to rename garbage day, recycling day, and promoting composting and other good environmental practices in Manitoba.

On April 21st, last week, we brought forward Bill 212 to ban the use of single use plastic check-out bags in Manitoba. This measure has already been taken in Leaf Rapids in northern Manitoba and it has worked well. Plastic bags have been banned in many other places including China. It is time to improve our environment in Manitoba and eliminate the hundreds of millions of plastic bags which end up in our landfill sites every year.

The NDP, however, are retrograde on this subject. Conservation Minister Stan Struthers talked about why the government does not support banning plastic bags. He talked about how he has to open his Christmas presents with wire cutters and a blow torch, and his view that banning plastic bags is too complex for him and his government to handle. Too bad for Manitoba. Those concerned with environmental issues in Manitoba need to know how intransigent the NDP are when it comes to making simple changes - like banning plastic bags to improve our environment.

Ending the use of plastic bags produced from petroleum based chemicals in Manitoba can also help our our industries here. We could be using bags made from agricultural products produced here in Manitoba. But the NDP are more concerned about supporting Alberta based petroleum products than in supporting Manitoba produced products. We need to be much more pro-Manitoba in our approach.

The photo above, of Don Woodstock in Sept 2006, shows Don planting trees along the Assiniboine River - just one more example of Don helping improve our environment.