CALGARY – Outrage from Calgary’s Chinese community and a recent Ontario court ruling could take a bite out of the city’s attempt to outlaw shark fin soup.
About 100 people attended a town hall meeting at the Chinese Cultural Centre to voice their opposition to the bylaw. Many complained the city did not conduct a proper consultation – a point conceded by the alderman who first proposed the ban earlier this year.
“I realize that you were not consulted, and I should have,” Ald. Pincott told the crowd.
The Ward 11 alderman introduced a motion to ban the Chinese delicacy in July. The motion passed a first reading in October, but council ordered Pincott and Ward 8 Ald. John Mar to consult the community before second reading in January.
The bylaw, which would take effect in July 2013, bans the possession, sale, consumption and advertisement of shark fins. Fines range from $300 to $1,000.
Fins are sliced off sharks – typically live – and their carcasses dumped into the ocean. The federal government banned shark finning in Canadian waters in 1994, but still allows the product to be imported.
Get breaking National news
“We here in little old landlocked Calgary can take a stand and say we don’t support this practice,” he said. “We are sending a strong message to Stephen Harper and the federal government that they need to do something about it.”
But that argument didn’t sway many in the crowd, including a recently formed advocacy group, the Coalition for Transparent and Accountable Governance.
Richard Poon, spokesperson for the group, said city council has forgotten its role and responsibility and is over-reaching its mandate.
“Why is a municipal government spending resources on a global issue?” he wondered.
A bylaw banning shark fin soup in Calgary amounts to “legislative bullying,” he said, adding council’s motive may be based on something other than environmental concerns.
“It’s hard to convince me that this is not based on discrimination,” he told the crowd.
Ald. John Mar, who also fielded audience questions at the town hall, took offence to Poon’s accusation.
“I object rather strenuously to the notion that we are singling out the Chinese people,” he said. “Do you think for one second that I would single out my own people?”
Ken Lee, a president of the Chinese Merchants Association, said he’s pleased the alderman attended the town hall. But he doesn’t believe a municipal bylaw is the proper course of action.
“I’m glad they came out and listened to the people,” he said. “But more importantly it draws attention to the fact that if they have a beef they should look to the federal government.”
However, a recent court decision in Ontario could derail Calgary’s push to ban shark fin soup. On Friday, a judge overturned Toronto’s shark fin bylaw on the grounds that the city lacked the authority to impose the ban.
That could have an impact here, said Pincott, adding the City of Calgary’s lawyers will have to closely examine the Toronto ruling.
Comments