City
Toronto City Council passes ban on shark fin products
Toronto has adopted a ban on shark fin products thanks to a 38-4 vote at city council this afternoon. The four members of council who voted against the ban — which includes a motion to ask for the province's support — were Mayor Rob Ford, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday, and councillors David Shiner and Giorgio Mammoliti. Initially suggested by councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam, John Parker, and Glenn De Baeremaeker, its opponents argued that a ban on such products would fall outside the jurisdiction of the City of Toronto.
"I don't think it's in our purview to do that. If other councillors want to do it it's an open vote," Rob Ford told reporters prior to today's meeting. "It's been going on for so long I don't know why it's an issue now."
One reason is that Rob Stweart, the Toronto-based director of the documentary Sharkwater, has campaigned fiercely to bring attention to the shark fin trade and the detrimental effect it has had on shark species. He was on hand today to take in the vote and, ultimately, to celebrate the victory at council. The by-law, which will take effect September 2012, will impose fines ranging from $5,000 (first offence) to $100,000 (third offence) for the possession and use of shark fin products.
Photo by Martin Reis in the blogTO Flickr pool
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First of all, foie gras is cruel. Second of all, how to you get from banning something for the safety of animals to banning something because it's "gross."
Shark fin soup wasn't banned because it's gross.
Actually, these "middle class white people" are our elected local government. I don't always agree with them either, but if you're going to complain about "white people" acting against animal cruelty and environmental waste, I think you're in the wrong country, chum.
Ignorant.
Killing sharks for fins only - ignorant.
Wong, how many chinese wedding you goto in Toronto where shark-fin soup served? Lets first establish your innocence.
What kind of boneheads are we electing to represent us?
Simply pathetic!
I hope each of the Councillors (minus those who voted against the bill) foots the bill for any future s. 2(b) Charter challenges to this moronic bill.
What a way to blow $1 million worth of future legal fees--paid, of course, by taxpayers--for a bylaw that won't stand up in court!
Would you like to enlighten us with a well thought out argument to support a s 2(b) breach? Because a straw man argument would swiftly be thrown out of court.
In any case, it could probably be saved by s 1 of the Charter as reasonable so as to be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
I think there are more important things for city hall to be doing....
Ok, the media took the bait (oops, one more...) and now many more people are aware of what a bad practice eating shark fins is, which is the real goal anyways (the law is unenforceable in practice). But we should be using our energy and Council's to rally against the Ford policies that make Toronto a laughingstock while Chicago and New York surge. (i.e. only city in North America to remove bike lanes, only city in North America to cancel LRT lines, only city in North America to have a mayor not attend cultural festivals...) In the 1980s, New York sent teams of politicians to Toronto to learn how to make dumpy New York more like the successful, happy city to the north. Now we go to New York of all places to learn how to make a street tree or bike lane or express bus route. Pathetic.
PS - If you are really into wildlife conservation, focus on getting the Toronto Zoo turned into a nonprofit like the WCS, which runs all of the New York City zoos and aquariums and does outstanding conservation work. Selling it to a profit-making venture, which will be Ford's goal, will be a disaster for the animals and the citizens. Do you want two Ripley's in the city?
i really hope they ban chinese bbq from hanging in the window, ewwwwy gross. i dont know how they live like that, go back to your own country.
I believe nobody is going to go hungry over this ban.
With Mississauga and Toronto (and somewhere in northern Ontario that started the whole thing) all passing this law it is a start, and it shows other cities it can be done. If the city is sued over the law, we can always ask WWF or any other animal protection agency for money to help pay our legal fees, it's not like they could turn down a public plea like that.
http://www.alldaysnews.com/world-news/will-the-arizona-boycotts-go-bust/comment-page-1/#comment-49633