Some grocery stores still charging 5-cent bag fee

Opponents of the controversial five cent bag levy had cause to celebrate when July 1 rolled around.  That’s when the bylaw that imposed the fee was officially rescinded.

But several prominent grocers say they’ll continue to charge shoppers, despite city council’s decision to axe the tax before an all out ban on plastic bags takes effect in 2013.

Both Loblaws and Sobeys say they’ll keep the fee in place until the bags are banned in the new year.

“Loblaw Companies Limited and its banner stores (ex. Loblaws, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Valu-mart, Wholesale Club, Fortinos,) will continue to charge five cents per bag beyond July 1st,” the company’s senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, Bob Chant said.

Sobeys is following suit, with spokesperson Sarah Stover saying (we) “have been charging a five cent fee per bag since 2009 and will continue to do so as part of our voluntary commitment to reduce plastic bag use in Ontario by 50%.”

Longos has agreed to comply with council’s decision and won’t charge shoppers.

“At the end of the day Longos has chosen to never charge for the bags unless we had to by law, which we did in Toronto. Now that they’ve repealed that tax we are not charging company-wide and that’s our philosophy for the business,” said Jerry Bulligan, Dir, Longo Brothers Fruit Market Inc.

Counc. Frances Nunziata said she was surprised to learn that some stores are still charging for plastic bags, but said it was ultimately up to the consumer whether or not to buy them.

She does want it to be clear that the city has nothing to do with any charges for bags and wants stores to post signage that sets the record straight.

“If you do continue to charge five cents it’s very important that you let your customer know that this is your five cent tax and not the city of Toronto’s tax,” she stressed.

The Retail Council of Canada says it’s impossible to get all grocers on the same page.

“Now that the bylaw is rescinded we can’t collaborate…on individual business decisions,” said the council’s senior vice-president Dave Wilkes.

While stores that still charge the fee maintain they donate funds to environmental causes, there was no disclosure provided to CityNews as to how much money is generated directly from the bag tax and how much they keep.

Loblaws says they don’t reveal those numbers and declined an on-camera interview.