Calgary to seek shark fin ban despite Ontario court ruling

The City of Calgary plans to push ahead with its plan to ban the sale of shark fin products in the city.

The Ontario Surpreme Court overturned the City of Toronto's shark fin bylaw on Friday, but Mayor Naheed Nenshi says municipalities in Alberta are on more solid ground in venturing into this area.

"I know our law department is working on that," he said. "It's worth noting that the legislative environment for cities in Alberta is quite different from that in Ontario, and their earlier read of this was that we did have the authority and I don't know if that has changed as a result of this."

City council has already given first reading to a shark fin ban bylaw — which would ban the possession, sale and consumption of such products.

In October, council members John Mar and Brian Pincott were asked to conduct a community consultation on the proposed shark fin ban bylaw and report back to city council in January for final approval.

On Saturday, the aldermen met with members of Calgary's Chinese community at a town hall meeting organized by the Coalition for Transparent and Accountable Governance, a newly-formed group looking to raise awareness on issues important to the Chinese community.

"The main purpose is we what to share more opinions from both sides ... people who support, people who don't support it," said the coalition's Richard Poon.

Calgary's bylaw is tentatively set to take effect next July.