Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the legislation is presently written for the Single Use Retail Bag Program, paper bags are treated exactly the same. If you go to a store, a grocery store, you have to pay 25 cents; if you go to a restaurant you have to pay 25 cents. To draw a further comparison, polyethylene bags, plastic bags, are treated the same as recyclable bags.
Can the Minister explain for the House why these bags are all being treated the same, whereas plastic bags are not so good for the environment and biodegradable or compostable bags are good for the environment? So if he can start off by explaining why they’re all being treated the same we can then move forward to the next set of questions. Thank you.