Have you been shopping lately? Whether it is the grocery store, hardware store, big box store, whatever, you get the question: “Do you want a bag?”

Hello, of course I want a bag, how else am I going to carry my purchases to the car/home? But wait a minute, those bags will cost you 5¢ each. What? Why? “Because it’s company policy.”

Er, right – where does the money go? Well, one answer I received was “to the company”. For what purpose? “I don’t know”. Another reply was “well, the company has to buy the bags, so you have to pay for them”. And another, “…it’s the law.” Hey people, check your surroundings, that only applies in the City of Toronto – stop insulting our intelligence.

So what’s next? When we go to the checkout, are we going to be billed for the cashier’s time to check us out, because the company had to hire staff? Well, if that is the case, why are we not seeing price reductions where there are self-serve checkouts? And one store I was in, the bags are positioned so that the customer cannot access them. Hell, it wasn’t all that long ago that the bags were at the end of the checkout when the grocery stores forced self bagging on us.

From Stewardship Ontario: “That’s why those in the anti-bag-ban camp argue strongly that education rather than an outright ban is the key to changing consumer behaviour – and getting the public to apply the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) to how they deal with plastic bags.”

So why is everyone focused on the plastic bag? What about the packaging the consumer has to deal with? What about the blister packs for 5 screws? The amount of plastic used for a memory card? The amount of plastic used for a candle lighter? And why is there plastic being used in consumer packaging that is not recyclable?

Is there anyone in government that has their head screwed on straight so that we can get our priorities in the right order?

The cost of shipping by sea is going up, way up. For shipments to Northern Europe, the increase on a 20′ container will be $750, a 40′ container will be $1,000 and for the 40′ high cube it will be $1,200, commencing July 15.

You would think that after coming out of a recession that there would be plenty of capacity and shipping lines would be looking for ways to fill that capacity. However, some shipping lines have gone to a policy of slow-steaming which means that containers are on the water longer, thus increasing turn-around times. (Slow-steaming is an attempt to reduce oil consumption.) And during the recession, no-one ordered any new containers.

As a result, not only are costs going up, but the amount of capacity is dropping extremely quickly. Thinking of shipping by sea? Plan ahead, way ahead. And be prepared to pay.

Transport Canada has posted an alert on their website that deals with US carriers transporting dangerous goods into Canada.

Section 6.4(1) of the TDG Regulations states that a carrier from the US must have a hazmat endorsement on their commercial driver’s licence and that this endorsement must reference sections 172.700 to 172.704 of 49 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations). As the hazmat endorsement is state generated, not federal (DOT), not all endorsements make reference to those sections of 49CFR.

However, Transport Canada has an agreement with the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) that Transport Canada will recognize the hazmat endorsement on the CDL.

For more information, please go to: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/publications-alerts-endorsements-1092.htm

Transport Canada has posted on its website a proposed interim order for the period of the G20 meetings in Toronto. Dangerous goods that require an ERAP, are in Classes 1.1, 1.2, 1.5 or are in Class 7, other than medical isotopes (UN2915), are prohibited from the controlled access zone. Also included in this are dangerous goods that require the display of placards. However, these dangerous goods are permitted between midnight and 06:00.

The controlled access zone is the area in the City of Toronto that is bounded by Strachan Ave from Queen St West to Lake Ontario, Queen St West from Strachan Ave to Bathurst Street, Bathurst Street from Queen St West to Dundas St West, Dundas Street West/Dundas Street East from Bathurst Street to Jarvis Street, Jarvis Street from Dundas St East to Lake Ontario. You can also view this area on a map.

This interim order is expected to be signed by the Minister on June 21 and will expire June 28 at 06:00.

To view the interim order, please go to:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/g20-controlledaccesszones-1090.htm

To comment on this interim order or to make a case for a business critical exemption, please contact, by close of business on June 4:

Linda Hume-Sastre
Director, Legislation and Regulations
Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate (ASDC)
Transport Canada

By one of the following options:
Email: linda.hume-sastre@tc.gc.ca
Fax: 613-993-5925
Surface mail: Place de Ville, Tower C, 330 Sparks Street 9th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0N5