03-28-2013, 01:07 PM
|
#1
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: May 2004
Location: YSJ (1979-2002) -> YYC (2002-2022) -> YVR (2022-present)
|
Federal Conservatives defeat motion to ban importing shark fins
I'm the furthest thing possible from a PETA-supporting animal rights extremist, but even as a carnivore and seafood-lover I realize what a cruel and barbaric practice shark finning is. Polls show that 81% of Canadians support a ban on shark fins. Making shark fin imports illegal (finning in Canadian waters is already banned) should be a clear bi-partisan issue that all MPs can get behind, right?
Wrong. The Conservatives just defeated a private member's bill to ban shark fin imports by a margin of 143-138. Why? Because they're cynically trying to appeal to older Chinese voters. Shameful.
Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...nadian-values/
Quote:
Shark finning already is banned in Canadian waters. But a private member’s bill put forward this week by NDP MP Fin Donnelly would have gone further, banning the importation of foreign shark fins into Canada, where they end up in soup served at Chinatown restaurants. An estimated 100 tons of shark find are brought into our country every year — a harvest that corresponds to thousands of dead sharks, many of them trafficked by criminal gangs in Central America and elsewhere.
The bill seemed like a no-brainer: After all, we have a majority Conservative government that regularly (and properly) insists that Canadian immigrants adapt themselves to our values. Jason Kenney even put out a new citizenship study guide in 2011 to ensure that newcomers adopt “values and institutions that are rooted in Canada’s history.”
Unfortunately, Conservative MPs defeated Mr. Donnelly’s bill by the narrow margin of 143-138. And the reason is simple and crass: ethno-politics. Many older Chinese immigrants in this country still eat shark-fin soup. Just a few months ago, in fact, the government’s Minister of State, Alice Wong, made a deliberate spectacle of eating the dish at a restaurant in her B.C. riding, an event broadcast on Chinese-language television.
I have it on good authority that young staffers within the Conservative Party — who take animal cruelty a lot more seriously than ethnic votes — are appalled by this. A while ago, before the current controversy, one Tory staffer friend of mine even had the courage to post his support for a shark-fin ban on a private blog. He got a call within hours from the party’s social-media police, angrily demanding that the post be taken down.
|
The full voting record on this bill can be found here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublicati...&DocId=6066281
I don't have time to look up the party affiliation of each MP to see if it was only Conservatives who opposed the ban, but the list of Nays reads like a who's who of CPC members and ministers (Harper, Kenney, Ambrose, MacKay, Baird, Paradis, Toews, Van Loan, and, of course, Anders).
|
|
|
The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to MarchHare For This Useful Post:
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:13 PM
|
#2
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Victoria
|
Are we at all surprised? The party's track record on environmental issues speaks for itself.
|
|
|
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to rubecube For This Useful Post:
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:14 PM
|
#3
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Marseilles Of The Prairies
|
What a bizarre thing to oppose.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm
Settle down there, Temple Grandin.
|
|
|
|
The Following 10 Users Say Thank You to PsYcNeT For This Useful Post:
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:15 PM
|
#4
|
#1 Goaltender
|
Another win for capitalism and freedom of choice
__________________
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:26 PM
|
#5
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Calgary
|
Stupid
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:30 PM
|
#6
|
Franchise Player
|
bill put forward this week by NDP MP Fin Donnelly
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:31 PM
|
#7
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: May 2004
Location: YSJ (1979-2002) -> YYC (2002-2022) -> YVR (2022-present)
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheese
bill put forward this week by NDP MP Fin Donnelly
|
Yeah, I was going to point that out in the OP but couldn't think of a decent joke.
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:37 PM
|
#8
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Vancouver
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheese
bill put forward this week by NDP MP Fin Donnelly
|
I actually knew this guy years ago and lost touch. I had no idea he was an MP now.
He once swam the length of the Fraser River to raise awareness... for something.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:38 PM
|
#9
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Calgary
|
Didn't make you terribly aware then.
|
|
|
The Following User Says Thank You to burn_this_city For This Useful Post:
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:40 PM
|
#10
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Apartment 5A
|
I guess rabbit is happy.
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:49 PM
|
#11
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kelowna
|
Such a blatantly stupid thing to defeat. It's a barbaric and disgusting practice and frankly has no place in the civilized world. Cons just gave me one more reason to vote against them in the next election.
|
|
|
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Zulu29 For This Useful Post:
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:50 PM
|
#12
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Calgary
|
Probably not going to be a popular opinion around here, but oh well. Nice! I'm gonna have to order some next time I'm out for dinner to celebrate.
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:51 PM
|
#13
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Vancouver
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by burn_this_city
Didn't make you terribly aware then.
|
That was the joke. It was actually to promote the protection of rivers, the salmon fishery and stewardship. I think he swam a few rivers. I remember asking him when he was going to do it again and he asked me with total seriousness; "When are YOU going to do it?" It was actually a pretty motivating statement for me.
I know the NDP isn't popular around here, but you'll never meet a more passionate person. He used to volunteer for everything and really cares about people and the environment... it's nice to see him doing well.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:57 PM
|
#14
|
Franchise Player
|
Must have been the oriental conservatives who voted that way.
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 01:57 PM
|
#15
|
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Crowsnest Pass
|
I visited Sea Life in Phoenix last week, and the presenter said that sharks will be extinct in 100 years. That sounded a bit alarmist. Any truth to that claim?
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 02:02 PM
|
#16
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: I'm right behind you
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
I visited Sea Life in Phoenix last week, and the presenter said that sharks will be extinct in 100 years. That sounded a bit alarmist. Any truth to that claim?
|
You should ask sharkman.
__________________
Don't fear me. Trust me.
|
|
|
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Reaper For This Useful Post:
|
|
03-28-2013, 02:04 PM
|
#17
|
Franchise Player
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Kelowna
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
I visited Sea Life in Phoenix last week, and the presenter said that sharks will be extinct in 100 years. That sounded a bit alarmist. Any truth to that claim?
|
I don't know about the entire species in 100 years but certainly a lot of them could. Their environment and prey are being destroyed.
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 02:08 PM
|
#18
|
Crash and Bang Winger
|
Ugg it would be nice if their was a non conservative choice that wasn't corrupt or ######ed.
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 02:12 PM
|
#19
|
Self Imposed Exile
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Calgary
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skootenbeeten
Ugg it would be nice if their was a non conservative choice that wasn't corrupt or ######ed.
|
Federal politics is strangely mirroring our provincial politics...
I was naive when I grew up and my grandpa's brother would say all politicians are crooks, and I didn't believe him with my fan fare for Joe Clark. But now, on both levels of government, I really can't support anyone, my apathy is at an all time high.
Do you not vote? Seems to be the excuse other people use which I generally pass of as just that - an excuse for being lazy.
|
|
|
03-28-2013, 02:13 PM
|
#20
|
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Crowsnest Pass
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reaper
You should ask sharkman.
|
troutman always releases his trout.
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:01 PM.
|
|