Fee increases for single-use bags in Edmonton are going ahead as planned this summer.
Edmonton's utility committee discussed a report delivered to them Monday from city administration that outlined the potential implications of a pause on increasing bag fees, which are set to go up July 1 as part of the plan that came into effect last summer, as outlined in the single-use item reduction bylaw.
The city operations report came after city council passed a motion in September asking administration for one.
The fees local businesses charge customers for bags are scheduled to increase to 25 cents from 15 cents for a single-use paper bag and to $2 from $1 for a reusable one.
According to the report, a resident survey conducted in November found the majority of respondents reported they were already bringing their own bags and would probably or definitely likely bring one for retail shopping following the planned fee increase.
And while most of the 7,917 people who took the survey said they don't bring a bag for food service, 29 per cent of them indicated they would probably or definitely bring one come July 1.
Respondents also indicated in answers to open-ended questions they're still forming habits around bringing reusable bags for food service but that they were, more and more, skipping using bags altogether in drive-thrus.
The survey found that 51.2 per cent either somewhat or strongly agreed reducing the use of single-use items is important to help the environment, while 42.3 per cent said they somewhat or strongly disagreed with that sentiment.
Administration recommended to the committee that it accept the report as information.
Committee member Tim Cartmell, councillor for Ward pihêsiwin in the city's southwest, said while "it's interesting" the survey found support for the bylaw is "a bit of a 50-50 thing," the results justify its creation.
"I'm not keen on annoying people or making it inconvenient, but if the ultimate outcome is that people don't take a bag because they don't like the fee, it's kind of mission accomplished," Cartmell told media.
He said the other major piece to the issue is that the bag fees "add some transparency" to any debate over their acceptance.
"Nothing is stopping any of those establishments from dropping their prices by 15 cents to accommodate, so it doesn't cost any more money," Cartmell said. "You were always paying for a bag in the cost of your food anyway."
Cartmell added the number of people he has heard from regarding the single-use item bylaw in recent weeks has dropped to zero.
"We hear from time to time that you know, this is an annoyance amongst people but I haven't had an email on this in several weeks even once," he said
"The number of complaints in November was three, December was zero. When I've had people say that they don't like this idea both on the business side and on the consumer side, I have invited them to come to utility committee (meetings) and make their case ... and firmly advised, particularly the business community, that if this is a problem, come to committee — for the last three utility committees where we've discussed this, no one has come, no one has shown up, so at some point, you have to say that the annoyance is grumbling, and there's tacit agreement that this is the way forward."
The city has received fewer than 100 complaints and inquiries about the single-use items bylaw in the last year.
Most of the businesses that responded to the survey said they're using the same amount of or more disposable cups, paper bags and accessories such as napkins and straws since the bylaw took effect in July last year.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson
