Heated debate continues at City Hall over banning shark fins

TORONTO – Toronto City Council continued a heated debate over the motion to ban the sale of shark fins Thursday.

The bylaw would prohibit anyone in the City of Toronto from possessing, tradeing, selling or consuming the fins.

City council began debating the sale of shark fins in May after a Global News investigation highlighted the animal cruelty concerns surrounding the practice.  Cruelty concerns that caused the city of Brantford to ban the Asian cuisine.

Brantford was the first Canadian city to ban the sale of shark fins.  Oakville and Mississauga have now also instituted bans of their own.

The fins, considered by some to be an integral part of Asian culture, highlight animal cruelty concerns because of the means used to gather the fins. The practice of ‘finning,’ involves cutting the fin off a live shark before leaving the shark to die in the water.