Telling Rob Ford I Oppose the Ban of Shark Fins

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the ban on possession and consumption of shark fin products passed by City Council.

I personally did not support the ban as this is a matter that should be dealt with by the federal government. The Canadian government has banned "shark finning" in Canadian waters since 1994.

As I promised during the mayoralty election, I am dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city.

I will continue to work on behalf of the taxpayers to make sure you get the respect you deserve.

This note is to confirm that we have received your email and that we are looking into your matter.

Please feel free to follow up to check the status of your email. Thanks again and have a great day.

Yours truly,

Mayor Rob Ford

City of Toronto

We're all in this together.

>>>angelaleung 10/24/11 20:35>>>

October 24, 2011

Dear Mayor Rob Ford,

I'm sending you this email regarding the passing of the law on the ban of shark fin in Toronto. As a young adult and grow up in a family where my father and his family are Chinese, I want to take a stand against the passing of this law. The reason is not that I don't care about saving the in danger sharks in the ocean or that I am trying to protect the tradition of Chinese and etc. My main concern is about the failure of informing public the right information during the entire process, the entire process seems to be is a commodity action that follows the hype created by the promoters and their marketing strategy.

First of all, the whole process on this banning has been an unfair dictated action on the municipal and some individual councilors who promote animal rights by stating facts that are only beneficial to their message. They clearly ignore rights for the public to have enough time and knowledge to understand what the current shark hunting practice and trading really is. The entire process is happening in a rush, where do the public learn real information of shark fin hunting? We all learn everything from the group who present bias facts that works to their advantage when marketing their campaign. The non transparency of the presentation of correct informations is what make me feel that this is not the right time to pass the law.

As a consumer (I'm not affiliated with any business nor do I know or own any business personally), I feel that I and other people have the right to know more about exactly why shark fin is being ban and why is it treated like a offend at least 5 times more so than a procession of drugs (where they only charge $1000 for procession of drugs on first offense, the anticipating law is going to charge $5000 for procession of shark fins on first offense)

The followings are the keypoints of facts that the promoters didn't state because these are to their disadvantage:

• Canada import over a thousand ton of fresh and frozen shark steak a year, it's clear that Canadians and people around the world do consume shark meat just the same way as shark fins.
• Shark Fins is only selling for 5% of the profit each shark is made when hunt; their skin are usually make into leather product, meat are consume, bones, liver and fat are use to make medicines, health product and make up products. Do banning the fins help with shark hunting? No.
• Shark by products (steak for eating, fish and chips, health and wellness products, make up) are legal. Why is shark fins illegal, just because it's natural and unprocessed?
• The group stated that there are 70 million of shark killed every year. this number is from a fact in the early 90s. The recent number in 2009 is 600,000 world wide. The number they present is untrue and misunderstanding to public!

Other facts I find the government has done to creating this injustice decision:

• Municipal has no legal right to pass law according to the office, it should be a federal matter
• The Federal government has a law regarding Sea Lion hunting and the practice is still permitted in a regulated basis. Can shark fin trading also be regulated like any other trade?

My own humble opinion:

• A added tax can lower the consuming number as prices are higher and less people will have incentive to consume shark fins, additional tax can even bring in income for the government

Overall. I do not see banning of shark fin is the effective way to save the sharks. The way to save them while benefiting the community and government is regulate it as a renewable resource.

I oppose to shark fin ban because of the misrepresentation of the information and the lack of inquiry section for the public to gain enough knowledge to understand the motive of this law. It's not about me supporting the culture or a cuisine, it's the need to have enough time to think clear on what exactly is helping instead of rushing through a ban that is may not be necessary.

Thanks for taking the time to read. I really appreciate your dedication to make Toronto a bettet place than ever.

Sincerely,

Angela