A potential plastic bag ban for Saint John will be put to the Fundy Regional Service Commission, to see if there is interest in a region-wide approach.
Councillor David Hickey brought forward a motion Monday night asking city staff to prepare a report on the feasibility of such a ban.
A referral motion was made by Councillor Greg Norton to instead ask the FRSC to research and prepare an approach that involves all of Greater Saint John.
Norton says despite recent challenges, this could be a great opportunity for regional cooperation on an important issue.
He says Quispamsis has already expressed interest in a similar single-use plastics ban, and could be a willing partner in this.
“What we don’t want to do to business is give one business an unfair advantage over another based on the banning of plastic in one community and another, where jurisdictional lines just blend and bleed into the other,” he said during the meeting.
Norton says while both the federal and provincial governments have said they are committed to legislation banning single-use plastics, a regional approach has its benefits.
“I think this can be a win for the region. I think we get a more coordinated approach, we put it around that table where the regional landfill is also a stakeholder, and at the same time, Saint John will get what it wants in lockstep with our neighbours,” he said.
Norton thinks Saint John should follow in the footsteps of Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe, where a regional plastic bag ban was just passed.
“All three of those mayors have come out to their respective councils and have aligned themselves in agreement that they’re not going to wait for the province but they’re going to move through a regional ban,” he said.
“That shows a coordinated approach that listens to not only industry but a desire among their citizens to become more environmentally sensitive and lessen their footprint.”
Norton says a ban is still a long way away, he says, as research and reports still have to be done, but he hopes this will prepare the region for a sustainable future.
