Seattle Bag Tax

Canada

Toronto Strike Overshadows Bag Tax

In July, Toronto enacted a 5-cent plastic bag fee for all customers. Toronto intends to reduce its plastic bag consumption by 50% by 2012, a benchmark towards their final goal of 70% bag reduction. The city won’t collect any portion of the fee.

Imposing and measuring the impact of the tax may be difficult, due to the recent strike of unionized city workers in Toronto. Labor has been redistributed to the essential functions of the municipality. Because the city doesn’t make any revenue from the fee, it is likely that enforcing the fee will be low on Toronto’s list of priorities.

The strike has brought larger environmental problems to the city. As normal curb-side waste management services have stalled, litter and improper dumping have greatly increased in parks, alleyways and other public spaces.