Take Canada for example. We may have some measure of restrictions on shark finning yet we have no regulation or law that prevents shark fins from being imported into the country. It didn't take me long to find a fair number of restaurants in Toronto that serve shark fin soup.

Even my home town of Hamilton where, as the manager of one popular restaurant told me, "shark fin has not really caught on with most of the people here," I nevertheless found that almost every Chinese restaurant in the downtown Hamilton core serves shark fin soup. It may not be listed on the menu, but many do have it if you ask.

What is the point then, of making the act of finning illegal on our own shores if we import the product of that same illegal action? Is the effect not exactly the same? Have we no responsibility whatsoever for the products we choose to allow into our country? Then again,our own record is pretty shaky when it comes to protecting not just the environment, but endangered species as well.

John Baird, the Minister of the Environment showed great enthusiasm for Rob Stewart's message and wanted to get involved. But of course, once the photo opp was complete, nothing was done. Really, you had to know that his promise of action was non existant. He's a politician after all.

Mr Baird has not only failed to take any type of action whatsoever, but Canada led the charge against adding two new species of sharks the CITES endangered list. This in spite of Mr. Baird's office having received 3500 e-mails in a single day on the issue. The voices of the people were completely ignored.

CITES, or The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species met recently and a proposal to add more species of sharks to an already ridiculously small list was discussed. Canada stood firm in its refusal to add two species, the Porbeagle shark and the Spiny Dogfish to the list. Thanks to Canada's insistence, these two species did not make the endangered list even though experts agree their numbers have also declined by over 90 percent.

So why would Canada not support the inclusion of these two species to the CITES list Mr. Baird? Perhaps it's because like illegal finners, we're making a killing off these animals? Canada has fisheries for both sharks and is not about to give up a lucrative trade even if we are playing with a soon to be non-existent resource.