S-238法案等于全加拿大将禁止享用鱼翅

 

鱼翅是从鲨鱼身上割下的鳍制成。被割完鳍后的鲨鱼被扔回海里。那些被丢弃的鲨鱼通常还活着，只是没有鳍。1994年以来，加拿大禁止生产鱼翅，却允许从没有这种规定的其他地区和国家进口鱼翅。

Shark finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark. The sharks are often still alive when discarded, but without their fins. Shark finning has been illegal in Canada since 1994, but importing fins from other regions and countries without such regulations is allowed.

 

过去十年中，有人一直试图禁止在加拿大拥有，销售或享用鱼翅。 2011年左右，许多安省市议会下令禁止鱼翅产品。多伦多市也是下此禁令的城市之一。当时，多伦多华裔商界的成员对该禁令提出质疑。

Over the past decade, attempts were made to ban possession, sale or consumption of shark fin products in Canada. Around 2011, many Ontario city Councils imposed a ban. The City of Toronto was one of those Canadian cities. At that time, members of Toronto's Chinese business community challenged that ban.

 

最终，这项禁令于2012年12月1日被安省最高法院推翻。虽然法官认为生产鱼翅的过程是不人道的，但他不同意多伦多市政府的辩解，即吃鱼翅可能会对居民的健康、安全以及城市的环境产生“不利影响”。法官裁定，市级政府没有禁止鱼翅的管辖权。 2013年3月27日，由联邦议员提出的一项禁止进口鱼翅的个人法案因得不到全体国会议员的支持而流产。

Eventually, the ban was overturned by the Ontario Supreme Court on December 1, 2012. While the judge agreed that the practice of shark finning was inhuman, he did not agree with Toronto's justification of a legitimate local purpose —– namely, that the consumption of shark fins may have an "adverse impact" on the health and safety of its residents and on the environmental well-being of the city. It was ruled that it was not the responsibility of the city to impose a ban and as such it did not have jurisdiction over it. On 27 March 2013 a private members bill to ban shark fin imports into Canada also failed in the House of Commons when it did not receive unanimous support.

由于禁令和立法的失败，加拿大中餐的鱼翅汤没有从菜单上消失。鱼翅本身并没有什么味道，鱼翅汤的味道来自其他佐料，鱼翅本身只是口感好。它通常在婚礼和宴会等特殊场合提供。

With the failure of the ban and legislation, Shark's fin soup - a traditional soup or stewed dish found in Chinese cuisine was allowed to survive on Chinese restaurant menus. The shark fins provide texture, while the taste comes from the other soup ingredients. It is commonly served at special occasions such as weddings and banquets.

 

动物保护团体从来没有停止对禁止鱼翅的努力。他们的理由是取用鱼翅的过程不道德，鱼翅的生产造成全球鲨鱼种群迅速减少。经过游说，保守党参议院议员迈克尔·麦克唐纳于在2017年提出一个法案。

All is not forgotten by the animal welfare groups that vigorously oppose finning on perceived moral grounds and also because it is one cause for the rapid decline of global shark populations. They lobbied Conservative Party Senate member Michael L. MacDonald to introduce a Senate Public Bill in 2017.

这个编号为S-238号的法案是对“渔业法”和“野生动植物保护和国际和省际贸易法”（涉及鱼翅的进口和出口）的修订。 S-238法案可以说是“禁止鱼翅进出口法”。与国会提出的各类法案类似，S-238号法案最终成为法律必须经过以下步骤：

Bill S-238 is an Act to amend the Fisheries Act and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (relating to importation and exportation of shark fins).  S-238 is the “Ban on Shark Fin Importation and Exportation Act”. Like bills introduced in the House of Commons, it must go through the following steps:

 

法案介绍，一读，二读，委员会审查，报告阶段和三读。

Introduction and first reading, second reading, Committee review, Report stage, and third reading.

参议院经过以上程序后会将法案转给国会，国会再次重复从法案介绍到三读的步骤。如果国会通过此法案，该法案将成为法律。目前，S-238法案已经于2018年10月23日在参议院通过。

It is then sent to the House of Commons for its members to repeat the steps above. If the bill originated in the Senate and has been passed by both chambers in the same form, it is presented for Royal Assent. At this moment, Bill S-238 was passed by the Senate on October 23, 2018.

S-238法案对鱼翅的进口和出口做了修订，包括“除非有按照第10（1.1）条颁发的许可证，任何人不得在加拿大进口或出口鱼翅，或鱼翅的衍生品。”

Amendments are to be made to the Importation and exportation of shark fins. Under the new rule, “No person shall, except under and in accordance with a permit issued pursuant to subsection 10(1.1), import or export, or attempt to import or export, into or from Canada shark fins or parts of shark fins that are not attached to a shark carcass, or any derivatives of shark fins.”
 

 

该法律意味着只有渔业部才能批准用于科学研究的鱼翅。而从鲨鱼身上割下的鱼翅不能进口或出口加拿大。如果此法通过，这等于在加拿大全面禁止鱼翅。

This law means that only the Minister responsible can permit an exemption based on scientific research purposes. All shark fins must only enter (import) or exit (export from) Canada when attached to a shark carcass (body). Effectively, it would ban shark's fins from Canada once the law is passed.

加拿大华人社区几乎很少有人关注这个法案。中国餐馆老板们仍有时间组织和抗议这项法案的通过。联邦自由党政府可能在2019年10月的联邦大选前通过这项法案。对于那些仍想品尝他们的鱼翅汤并且不想吃“仿鱼翅”的人来说，享用这一佳肴的时间已经不多了。

This impending law was not widely publicized in the Chinese Communities in China at this time. There is still time for the Chinese restaurant owners to organize and protest this new legislation. It is perceived that the Liberal government may want to pass this law before the next Federal Election in Oct 2019. For those who still want to taste their Shark's fin soup and do not want to get the “imitation products”, time is running out.