Angry consumers are left holding ... the bag T.O. shoppers say we're being nickeled and dimed to the tune of millions By SHARON LEM, SUN MEDIAToronto's new shopping bag fee won't do much to save the planet, Valdy Dreimanis figures.
Instead, he sees the new five-cent-per-bag fee the city is forcing retailers to charge customers as just the latest in a series of oppressive "taxes" aimed at the little guy.
"This is just another knee-jerk reaction from our politicians to placate the whiners out there," Dreimanis, 44, said.
"I'm tired of all of the lies and literally getting nickelled and dimed to death," said Dreimanis, who works in the architectural design field.
Toronto's shopping bag bylaw, which came into effect June 1, slaps a five-cent fee on every plastic bag consumers use when buying groceries and other goods.
The bylaw is part of the city's broader plan to reduce waste going to landfill by 70% by 2010, but it has generated controversy since first proposed last year.
100% RECYCLABLE
Plastic bags make up less than 1% of the waste stream. They're 100% recyclable and can be put into blue boxes, facts which prompted council opponents to question the need for a fee.
Councillor Michael Thompson, who voted against the fee, said it misleads the public into thinking their nickel will make the planet a little greener when the impact on landfill sites will be minuscule.
"I do think it's bizarre," he said, noting it offers very little environmental benefit.
"It's a charge to discourage (use) and I don't think it's effective. I still see people with plastic bags."
Thompson also questioned whether Toronto council has the power to order the fee.
Under the City of Toronto Act, council can charge direct taxes and user fees. The plastic bag fee fits neither description.
Instead, council has drafted a bylaw that requires retailers to charge the fee.
One section of the City of Toronto Act does give council authority to enact measures to protect the environment. However, there's legal and constitutional precedence surrounding municipal taxation and user fees, and Toronto's shopping bag bylaw breaks new ground.
Similar fees in other jurisdictions -- in Canada and the U.S. -- have begun to be challenged.
For its part, the city believes it's on firm legal footing and will take a court challenge to fight the fee.
Queen's Park and Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson have given the fee tacit approval and turned a blind eye to questions and concerns about the bylaw's legality.
Meanwhile, the city has left it up to retailers to decide what to do with the cash they collect.
"This is an opportunity to enrich the retailers," Thompson said. "We haven't put a bylaw in place that requires them to put all this money that they're collecting from taxpayers back into the environment."
The dollars are not insubstantial.
Large grocery stores stand to cash in to the tune of as much as $44 million extra per year from the sales of plastic bags.
Some retailers say the profits will go to charity, but they're free to keep it if they wish. And donating "some" could create more distrust in consumers, who view it as a cynical cash grab, says Dr. Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University's Schulich School of Business.
"The retailers say they're doing this in the name of social corporate responsibility, but it's just another fundraising scheme if they don't make some kind of announcement on the formula of how much goes to the charity or a promised amount," Middleton said, adding retailers could donate a total of $1 to charity and they'd still be fulfilling their promise of a donation.
Retailers who say they'll donate an undisclosed amount to various charities include: Sobeys Ontario, which will donate to Earth Day Canada; Shoppers Drug Mart to Princess Margaret Hospital; IKEA to Tree Canada; and the Hudson's Bay Co. to the HBC Foundation and to Canadian athletes.
Other companies have made public exactly how much they'll commit.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. -- which has seen a 75% reduction in plastic shopping bag use since April 22 -- will donate $3 million to WWF-Canada over three years. Metro will provide $2 million this year for the Green Apple School program in Ontario and Quebec.
However, Gary Sands, vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, argues independent grocery stores don't like the fee anymore than the public does.
"If the city believes it's the right thing to do, then why didn't they bring it in as a tax? It's because they didn't want to take the heat from consumers," Sands said.
"Our members don't like charging their customers but they have to or else they'll be fined by the city. Grocery stores run on tight margins and this is something we don't need to be doing with our customers, especially during a recession," Sands said.
Proponents are just as convinced they're doing the right thing.
Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, chairman of city council's works committee, says it's not a tax grab because the city made a conscious decision to let the retailers collect the nickels.
'WHAT'S IT TO YOU?'
"And if the nice retailers take all the nickels and give them to the World Wildlife Fund or local cancer societies or children's charities, it's their private business ... so what, what's it to you?" De Baeremaeker said.
"Our lawyers have done due diligence and it's an open-and-shut case. Is that five-cent fee legal and would it stand up in court? One-hundred-and-ten percent yes and whoever challenges this in court would be wasting their time, energy and money," De Baeremaeker insisted.
"I'd say to the grumbling grocer who doesn't like collecting a fee -- too bad, get over it. We regulate everything we buy in stores and for good reason," he said.
"We want to make sure the meat is safe and not contaminated and children's toys have no toxic chemicals and people are not sneezing on your food. The government is here to protect the public," De Baeremaeker said.
SHARON.LEM@SUNMEDIA.CA
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