Alberta Warns Guilbeault That Ottawa’s Plastic Ban Will Hinder Local Progress, Innovation

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, accompanied by Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, announces a ban on single-use plastics and items at a beach in Quebec City on June 20, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

The Alberta government has sent a letter to Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault, objecting to the federal government’s designation of plastics as a toxic substance.

Rebecca Schultz, Alberta minister of the environment and protected areas, said in a July 5 letter that Ottawa’s sweeping ban on plastics “will punish innovative solutions, and hinder locally driven progress.”