e-1771 (Protection of the environment)
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
- An estimated 10 to 20 million tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans each year, as well as 10,000 tons annually into Canada’s Great Lakes;
- As of 2014, about 342 million tons of plastic are produced annually, a twenty-fold increase since 1964;
- At current rates, production is expected to double in the next 20 years and practically quadruple by 2050;
- A team of international scientists have estimated that there are some 5.25 trillion pieces of “floating” plastic in our oceans (270,000 tons), and another study estimates 15 to 51 trillion particles of plastic pollute our oceans because plastic can take hundreds to thousands of years to break down completely;
- In addition to leaching toxic chemicals into our eco-system and the oceans that help control our greenhouse gas-emissions, this plastic waste has now worked its way into the food chain;
- Tawain, Kenya, Rwanda, China, Italy, Great Britain, Scotland, Montreal, New Delhi, Paris, Vancouver and over 1,060 groups globally have mobilized to reduce single-use plastics; and
- In advance of the “zero plastics waste charter”, an immediate ban on single-use plastic bags would be an appropriate initiative, given their sheer quantity and dispensable nature, and that more economical and eco-friendly options are already offered by most businesses today.
- Open for signature
- October 22, 2018, at 11:51 a.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- February 19, 2019, at 11:51 a.m. (EDT)
Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.
Province / Territory | Signatures |
---|---|
Alberta | 135 |
British Columbia | 203 |
Manitoba | 29 |
New Brunswick | 19 |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 24 |
Northwest Territories | 1 |
Nova Scotia | 71 |
Nunavut | 2 |
Ontario | 750 |
Prince Edward Island | 3 |
Quebec | 724 |
Saskatchewan | 19 |
Yukon | 3 |