I'm going to go against the popular opinion here with my "endorsement" of the ban. I think it shows real leadership and Council's decision will eventually be seen as being ahead of it's time... Here's why...
There is ample scientific evidence to suggest that plastic NEVER degrades. The item might break down, but the base material ultimately breaks down into small beads of plastic material. This plastic leaches into groundwater and is found in the tissue of most birds, fish, and I suspect domestic farm animals and humans too. (I'd try to link some references, but I gotta get to work... maybe later). There is a belief in the scientific community that every piece of plastic ever made is still in existence (although some has been recycled of course!). This plastic material may or may not have adverse health effects... hard to imagine it doesn't.
As for the various arguments in favour of keeping the bags:
Most plastic bags are recycled. Wrong. Most eventually go into landfills where they serve the laudable purpose of preventing other waste from decomposing properly. Admittedly, many are re-used many times first, but ultimately they end up at the dump.
Paper bags are more harmful than plastic. Wrong. Brown paper grocery bags are typically made from recycled paper. Even the ones that aren't, could be made from FSC certified paper. FSC means that the paper has come from managed forests... junk trees grown and harvested and replanted every 7 - 10 years to make paper. These trees are grown like any other agricultural crop. "Real" trees are much too valuable for lumber to use for paper.
"What are we going to use to carry our groceries???". For fucks sake, take a cloth bag. Take a backpack. Some guy on CFRB said yesterday, "What if my wife calls and says pick up some pickles... How am I going to get them home?" WTF? They're in a bottle. Carry them.
As for the argument that cloth bags aren't recyclable... May be true... but it doesn't really matter, because they can be reused for many years and when they do get tossed out, they will decompose.
I see this decision as the first of many that will come in the next bunch of years. We need to reduce our use of "disposable" stuff... bags, water bottles. All are harmful. All are virtually unnecessary. Anyone who spends any time near the ocean can testify to the amount of plastic floating around out there. I travel to remote areas of Central America quite often and the shore in these areas is almost always COVERED with plastic crap that has drifted in from somewhere...
One thing I see as a huge advantage of this ban is that it will send a message to plastic manufacturers that they need to come up with eco-friendly alternatives. When their businesses are at stake, I think that suddenly they will be able to produce alternatives like corn-starch based, bio-degradable alternatives. We have seen this in the paper industry with the move to recycled and FSC papers, the car industry, with fuel consumption that is a fraction of what it was a few years ago etc. The lawn chemical companies have all come up with more environmentally-sound alternatives in the aftermath of pesticide bans that have become common place. No, our lawns don't look as nice, but aren't you happy you aren't drinking 2,4,5-T everyday? This sort of ban is about changing peoples behavior. Unfortunately, the "great unwashed" population will tend to defer to what is "cheap and easy" as opposed to what is "right... and might cost a titch more"...
If you didn't notice it, the LCBO stopped using plastic bags about 3 years ago. Did it ruin your life? I didn't even notice until I heard about on the radio yesterday, and I assure you that I am a "frequent-flyer" when it comes to the LCBO.
This thing reminds me a bit of the shark-fin ban of last year. Many people asked what the point of this was. Well, the point was that it was the right thing to do.
So you have a few months to get used to it. Pick up a few cloth bags and remember to take them. (I try to put them back into my car once I have unpacked my groceries since I tend to grocery shop spontaneously.