Councillors livid at shark-fin decision
Possible appeal after judge deems ban invalid
Toronto councillors are expressing outrage and say they may appeal after the Ontario Superior Court overruled a city ban on shark fins.
“I think that decision is fundamentally flawed and fundamentally wrong,” Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker said Saturday after Justice James Spence ruled Friday that a bylaw banning shark fins fell outside the city’s jurisdiction. De Baeremaeker, along with Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, was a proponent of the 2011 bylaw that ruled no one shall possess, sell or consume shark fin or shark fin food products within the city.
“There’s no right-thinking person in the city of Toronto who would think it’s acceptable to take an ani- mal out of the ocean, slice off its fins and throw it back in the ocean, where it’s going to drown or bleed to death or be eaten by other animals.”
After city councillors voted in favour of the ban 38-4 in the fall of 2011, Chinese community and business leaders challenged the bylaw in court. In their application to appeal, they said the bylaw is an insult to the Chinese community; fins are used to make shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy served at weddings and special occasions.
“The city has not banned, or even considered banning, any other food or clothing products enjoyed by any other ethnic groups, where the animals from which the food or skin or fur is obtained are raised or killed in ways that most residents of the city would consider painful and cruel if they were aware of it,” they wrote in their appeal.
In his ruling Friday, Spence agreed with four challengers — Barbara Chiu, Hughes Eng, Peter Tam, and Jacky Ma — who argued the bylaw is constitutionally invalid because the municipality lacks the authority to protect national resources that never come within provincial waters, such as sharks.
John Leung, co-chair of the Fair and Responsible Governance Alliance, who spoke on behalf of the challengers, said he’s pleased with the court decision. “City councillors should focus on the well-being and interests of the city, so they would not waste the city’s resources and the taxpayers’ money.”
De Baeremaeker said he believes the city has every right to pass legislation to stop animal cruelty and to ban products.
“What we do in Toronto impacts the entire world. If we use ivory for our jewelry and piano keys, elephants in Africa get slaughtered — it’s very simple to understand the connection between our actions here and what happens globally.”
Wong-Tam said the city will review options.
“That includes carefully vetting the ruling to determine our next course of action, and we should not rule out an appeal.”