In The News

United Nations' International Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution

Ottawa-

Today is the eve of the fourth session of the United Nations’ International Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The session will take place in Ottawa, hosted by Canada.

This morning, I spoke to reporters from the Press Gallery about my motion to take action against plastic waste exports. Motion M-120 seeks to close loopholes that allow Canada to export plastic waste through the United States to developing countries which are ill-equipped to deal with them sustainably. I was joined by Jim Puckett (executive director and founder of Basel Action Network), Pui Yi Wong (Basel Action Network in Malaysia), Lilly Woodbury (regional manager at Surfrider Foundation Canada), and Chloé Dubois (executive director and co-Founder of The Ocean Legacy Foundation).

This news conference also coincides with Earth Day, with this year's theme of "Planet vs. Plastics" aiming to raise awareness of the damage caused by plastic pollution.

In 2018, my motion (M-151) for a national strategy to combat ocean plastics passed unanimously in the House of Commons with all-party support. It led to the banning of single use plastics by the Government and yet there is much more to do.

To watch the entire press conference on CPAC, go here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=50cJwHuZThI

IN THE NEWS- NDP blast conservatives for missing bulk of parliamentary trip studying drug crisis

OTTAWA—The Liberals and New Democrats are slamming the federal Conservatives for failing to show up for most of a cross-country study of Canada’s toxic drug crisis, an issue leader Pierre Poilievre has heavily politicized in recent weeks.

MPs from all major political parties embarked on a weeklong, three-province, multi-city tour last week as part of the House of Commons health committee’s study into the overdose crisis that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Canadians in the past eight years.

“I mean, it just shows they’re not serious. They don’t want to listen to the people,” said Gord Johns, the NDP’s mental health and harm reduction critic.

“They don’t want to hear from the experts or the doctors or actually meet the people on the ground.”

IN THE NEWS- Funding cuts put ghost gear retrieval in Jeopardy

A multi-million-dollar funding cut will harm coastal restoration projects on the west coast, says Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns. And the timing—and secrecy—of the cut couldn’t have come at a more puzzling time, he added.

Ottawa, Ontario recently played host to the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international, legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Johns said it was just after the INC-4 session that he discovered the ghost gear retrieval fund was cut. No public announcement was made.

IN THE NEWS- Federal Funding Cuts will sink efforts to tackle ocean plastics

Ocean cleanup groups worry years of work and good jobs tied to cleaning up plastic pollution on Canadian shorelines are set to flounder after the federal government cut a critical source of funding in the recent budget.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans' (DFO) Ghost Gear Fund - which sunk nearly $60 million into 139 projects to alleviate the problem of ocean plastics - isn't outlined in the recent federal budget, said Josh Charleson, relationships director with the Coastal Restoration Society based in B.C.

The federal government tabled a budget that seemingly cuts funding to clean up ocean plastic pollution just before hosting international negotiations for a global plastics treaty, Johns said.

“I’m absolutely flabbergasted and frustrated and coastal people are in disbelief. [The Ghost Gear Fund] became a renowned program, a model around the world.”

IN THE NEWS- Finalize Plastics Treaty

Reaching a global agreement by the end of this year to address a plastic-waste crisis will require the environment minister to do more to push back against the oil, gas, and chemical sectors, according to an NDP MP who successfully passed a motion in 2018 to create a national strategy against plastic pollution.

“We need the minister to actually show courage and get something done,” said NDP MP Gord Johns (Courtenay–Alberni, B.C.). “We need some courage. Stand up to the petrochemical industry, the chemical industry, and the oil and gas industry and say, ‘No, we’re not going to provide resources to you … when we want to enact and implement policies to protect the health of Canadians.”

IN THE NEWS- NDP pharmacare plan on the House of Commons to-do list

Ottawa- The government’s proposal to begin rolling out a Canada-wide pharmacare plan — a key component of the supply-and-confidence deal between the governing Liberals and the New Democrats, which was introduced earlier this year after months of intense closed-door negotiations between the two parties, and is now poised to be put on the legislative fast track.

Before heading into the House of Commons this afternoon, New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh will hold a midday media availability at a downtown Ottawa park, where, accompanied by his party’s mental health and harm reductions critic Gord Johns, he’ll provide an overview of the New Democrat plan to “make sure young people have access to the mental health supports they need.”

IN THE NEWS- Canada's housing policy must be tailored to meet the needs of lower-income households: NDP

Federal New Democrats spent Wednesday seeking guidance from Albertans, who the party said are on the front lines of Canada's housing crisis, to help them form policies around addressing the needs of lower-income households.

The free market cannot be trusted to solve the country's affordability crisis and more solutions are needed, said Gord Johns, the NDP's mental health critic.

"The free market has never solved affordability issues", Johns said to a roundtable of housing experts in Edmonton on Wednesday.

IN THE NEWS- Canada's National Observer: New Registry Announced

The federal government announced a new registry to track plastic production to set the tone as negotiations on a Global Plastics Treaty kick off on April 23 in Ottawa.

The NDP wants to see the federal government cap plastic production and end federal subsidies to fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, said Johns.

Johns’ crafted a motion that calls on the government to negotiate a Global Plastics Treaty that reduces global plastic production and closes these export loopholes.

The NDP pushed for a national strategy to tackle plastic pollution in 2018 when Johns tabled a motion (it passed) that called for a national strategy to combat plastic pollution. It included measures that have been adopted by the Liberal government, including a program that helps remove old fishing gear from the ocean. However, Johns noted that the Liberals’ have not reinstated funding for the program despite the importance of addressing “ghost gear.”

IN THE NEWS- Tracking Plastics for Life: New Registry Announced by Feds

The federal government announced a new registry to track plastic production to set the tone as negotiations on Global Plastics Treaty kick off on April 23 in Ottawa. The NDP and advocacy groups have called for the registry as a necessary first step to address plastic pollution. However, the Liberals need to do more to hold companies accountable, said NDP MP Gord Johns in an emailed statement to Canada’s National Observer.

The NDP wants to see the federal government cap plastic production and end federal subsidies to fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, said Johns.

Guilbeault to host high-level summit on plastic pollution ahead of week-long negotiating session

With the next round of United Nations-led talks on a propsed new international treaty to reduce plastic pollution set to get underway in Ottawa tomorrow, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will makes the rounds at two "high-level events" organized by Canada in conjunction with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Also keeping tabs on Canada’s role in the push to limit plastic: New Democrat MP Gord Johns, who will hit the West Block press theatre to promote his newly-tabled, non-binding call for the government to “stop Canada’s harmful plastic waste export,” with representatives of Surfrider Foundation Canada and the Basel Action Network also expected to speak.

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