OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised to strike down a key element of the Liberal government's environmental policy Friday as he and other party leaders got back onto the campaign trail following the national leaders' debates in Mont OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised to strike down a key element of the Liberal government's environmental policy Friday as he and other party leaders got back onto the campaign trail following the national leaders' debates in Montreal. Both Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stayed in Quebec to make announcements Friday morning, while Liberal Leader Mark Carney made his way to Niagara Falls, Ont. Poilievre said if his party is elected he will end the ban enacted by the Liberals in 2022 that prohibits the manufacture and sale of six single-use plastic items including straws, grocery bags and takeout containers. He would also end Liberal plans to standardize plastic packaging and labelling to make it easier to recycle, referring to it as a "plastic tax" on food packaging. The previous Liberal government banned the items after designating plastic manufactured items as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. A Federal Court quashed that designation in November 2023 saying it was too broad to say all manufactured plastic is toxic. The federal government appealed the decision and was granted a stay, allowing the ban to remain in place pending the conclusion of that appeal. The Liberals also began implementing a plan to require up to 60 per cent of food packaging be made from recycled plastic by 2030. They were looking to increase how much plastic gets recycled in Canada, with studies suggesting as much as 90 per cent of plastic waste ends up in landfills. The Liberals say about three million tonnes of plastic waste is generated in Canada every year, about the same weight as 13 big cruise ships, and that the material has a value of about $8 billion. Poilievre claims the plastic ban will cost the economy $1.3 billion over the next decade, and the average family $400 annually. Plastic straws have generated an unexpected amount of political discussion in recent years as countries grapple with how to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. Many consumers have found paper straws to be unacceptable alternatives. The United States was also moving to phase out plastic straws but on Feb. 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order overturning that plan. In Yamachiche, Que., about an hour east of Montreal, Singh announced his party's Quebec platform. The document puts a more regional focus on NDP policy planks, such as plans for an east-west clean electricity power grid, and argues Quebec could sell it's hydroelectricity to the rest of Canada. Singh was flanked by several NDP candidates at his announcement and said his party have a focus on protecting farmers and the environment. Singh said protecting Canadian sovereignty means defending food security, including ensuring supply management in the dairy industry is safeguarded. U.S. tariffs have pushed resource projects to the forefront in the campaign, and the NDP's Quebec platform states that no pipeline would be built through Quebec without provincial consent. Singh said the NDP's full, costed platform will come "very soon." No party has yet released a fully costed platform. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2025. — With files from Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal David Baxter, The Canadian Press