Four embarrassing Justin Trudeau plastic gaffes

Justin Trudeau announced he wants to ban single-use plastics earlier this week. As the Liberals cheered, the Left and the Right were quick to jump and call out his hypocrisy.

The left claims his ban is hypocritical to his stances on oil and welfare to plastic companies, while the Right claims it hurts the vulnerable.

Here’s a list of four times the Canadian Prime Minister blundered on his stance on plastics.

4: Blocking much-needed access to straws for disabled people

Justin Trudeau’s ban on single-use plastic straws hurts disabled people the most. According to a 2017 Statistics Canada data, of 6.2 million citizens who suffer from a disability, 40 percent suffer from additional challenges to be considered severely disabled.

According to an article previously featured on our website, plastic straws remain the most barrier-free way for people with autism, mobility or muscle issues (such as multiple sclerosis) to take liquid.

3: Trudeau’s family spends $300 per month on bottled water

Trudeau and his family spend $300 per month on water bottles. Pretty hypocritical of him to say the least.

To lead by example, Trudeau should have carried around a reusable, refillable, and recyclable water bottle, but he refuses to indulge in such environmentally conscious behaviour.

To put the expenditure into perspective, a 24-pack of Nestle water bottles costs $4.47. In total, a $300 purchase in Nestle Water bottles would be a total of 1,608 water bottles. That’s more than 50 water bottles a day.

As Prime Minister, he should be leading by example, and his refusal to do so highlights gaping holes in his stances and argument.

2: Trudeau stutters and claims he uses boxed-water

When delivering his speech at the Gault Nature Reserve on Monday, a reporter asked Trudeau what his family had done to cut back on plastics.

He responded in a senseless farrago of tongue-tied rhetoric that delegitimized his stand.

“We have recently switched to drinking water bottles out of… water out of… when we have water bottles out of plastic. Sorry! Away from plastic towards paper like drink-box water bottles sort of things,” replied the Prime Minister.

Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Scheer, grasped the opportunity to attack Trudeau and his hypocrisy, saying Trudeau wants Canadians to pay exorbitant amounts for necessities such as water.

1: Trudeau awards plastic manufacturer a $35 million grant

According to The Star, Trudeau gave a $35 million grant to Nova Chemicals, a chemical company that makes plastic resins. This grant was given just days before Trudeau went to the G7 summit, where he announced his intention to curb single-use plastics.

Although an example of corporate welfare, Trudeau’s hypocritical environmental stance bewilders those on the Left and the Right.

Karl Sasseville, a spokesperson for Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, claims, “More specifically, Nova Chemicals is using innovative technologies to produce cleaner resources and less undesirable byproducts stemming from production.”

However, it was revealed in a report that the money was mainly going to Nova Chemicals’ $2.2-billion expansion plan in Sarnia, Ontario, including a new polyethylene facility and expansion of an existing ethylene facility.

Ethylene is one of the main substances in polyethylene; the expansion of the plant would mean Nova Chemicals could produce an additional 431,000 tonnes of polyethylene a year.

What do you think of Trudeau’s ban on single-use plastics? Do you think he could have gone further, or chosen another policy? Let us know in the comments below!