last time i was in china there was a nation wide ban on plastic bags and literally the next day stores wernt stocking them anymore.
i think banning them altogether is a better choice,,people would just have to adapt.

How about matching the price of the bag with the price of the object purchased? And dont forget to charge HST on it as well. Or just demand an arm and a leg of the customer.!!

Out right ban is the answer, people would still pay even a quarter for thier stupidity and keep harming the marinelife through plastic pollution of the oceans. We need firm action. City has thus far been too chicken about this ban although therre are provinces in the East who have done so.

Tackle Plastic By Banning It! Banning plastic bags outright is far more effective than taxing their use. Consider fossil fuels, they're heavily taxed with minimal impact on consumer behaviour - people continue to want cars, buy cars, and drive cars. A tax promoted as a behaviour deterrent has, in effect, become a general source of revenue for the government, a cash cow that they do NOT want to forgo, perpetuating government policy that is, if not entirely favourable to production and consumption of fossil fuels, is certainly less than discouraging. Banning plastic bags has the immediate impact of decreasing both consumption AND production. Consumption is bad because of the shelf life of the plastic in the worlds ecosystem AFTER use. Production is bad because of the use of petroleum and other toxic chemicals required to manufacture soft plastics. If we ban plastic bags, we’re encouraging the production of biodegradable, nontoxic alternatives such as bags made of corn starch and we’re encouraging the use of re-useable options such as fabric, reusable bags. Adding a fee to the continued use of plastics merely shifts the economic positioning of plastic bag consumers. And really, Vancouver, the state of India banned plastic bags, what the heck is the hold up here?!

This had a profound effect in Hong Kong where a very small charge encouraged near-universal use of reuseable shopping bags. I think that the cost would have to be higher in Vancouver, but it would work, particularly if reusable options were sold at the till for a reasonable cost (e.g., the $1 reusable bags at MEC).

How about all packaging in general! Thus people can take home there stuff and then return the packaging and get there refund. It would dramatically reduce the amount of waste we produce.

Or why not follow Australia's example and just make them illegal altogether? To my understanding, people there are still managing to get their groceries home somehow. ;)

How about upping the fee to something like $1 - I think that would be a much more powerful disincentive.

And what about adding something like this to disposable coffee cups as well?