At the next general meeting of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) members will vote on a motion to lobby the provincial and federal governments to tax all plastic shopping bags provided by retailers. The "PlasTax" is the brainchild of the District of North Vancouver and is being touted under the guise of environmental sensitivity. For member municipalities of the UBCM, it's another revenue stream and therefore likely to be enthusiastically embraced.

Before the provincial government dances to UBCM's tune, a few questions about the PlasTax need to be asked.

The UBCM motion states that the new tax should be modeled after the PlasTax that the government of Ireland implemented in 2002. The goal of that 17 cent per plastic bag tax was to reduce the volume of plastic bags produced and consumed because of the impact on the environment.

In the four years that the tax has been collected, there is no evidence to show plastic bags usage has dropped. In fact, while plastic shopping bag sales decreased, other plastic bags (substitutes) increased 400%. Essentially, consumers simply substituted the bag at the cashier with a plastic bag purchased off the shelf. The PlasTax in Ireland applies to bags that are provided by the retailer but not to bags that are bought off the store shelf.

Therefore, the program is failing to stem the use of plastic bags, nor is it yielding the revenue governments were banking on.

Yet, this is exactly what the Lower Mainland Local Government Association, courtesy of the District of North Vancouver, wants the UBCM to endorse!

The environmental concerns being touted are bogus. Plastic bags are less energy intensive to produce than paper bags, more hygienic and more easily recycled than paper bags. In fact, paper bags can degrade to methane and carbon dioxide-those pesky greenhouse gases.

The last and most offensive part of this scheme is what happens to the revenue collected from the PlasTax. In Ireland, it was funneled into an ill-defined "environment fund." Municipalities must be chomping at the bit to get a fund that they can draw on for pet projects. But, when is enough, enough

Most large retailers already have proactive plastic bag recycling programs in place. Used plastic bags can be recycled into all sorts of products and it is a budding industry in British Columbia. Implementing a PlasTax will stamp out what entrepreneurial interest currently exists. And why Not for environmental concerns, not for consumers or retailers. The only 'winner' of a PlasTax would be municipalities who get to divvy up the revenues.

Don't want to be hit with another tax Than call you local mayor and voice your opposition to the PlasTax proposal!