The Spiny Dogfish, valuable as a main source of fish and chips is often re-classified as Rock Salmon to get around the pesky conservation issue and make it more palatable to consumers. It reproduces painfully slowly and very susceptible to overfishing. "Living up to 70 years, the female does not breed until she is over twelve years of age. Gestation can be up to two years and she will produce a maximum of 20 live pups at a time."

The Porbeagle, an older and smaller relative of the Great White is currently being so over fished that according to COSEWIC that "the landings now are comprised mostly of juveniles." Did you get that? They are catching young sharks almost exclusively. Which means they are not even giving them a chance to grow to sexual maturity. They are literally catching them all! Even Canada's own national action plan for the management and conservation of sharks acknowledges that "given the low productivity of the Porbeagle, it is expected to take several decades for this species to recover from its low abundance."

Now here's a perfect example of typical Canadian politics at work. "COSEWIC (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) was established as an advisory body in 1977 to meet the need for a single, official and national classification of wildlife species at risk and operates under the auspices of SARA (Species at Risk Act)."

On the COSEWIC report, the Porbeagle is listed as endangered; yet on the SARA report this same shark is not considered endangered, threatened or even a species of concern. It has no status whatsoever. From one report to the next, the problem ceased to exist. Ah the magic of bureaucracy.

But I don't mean to single out the ruling Reforms (oops, sorry I mean Conservatives) alone. The Liberals, once the natural ruling party of Canada have also been quite naturally ineffective at protecting our resources. According to Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the newer greener Liberals themselves held a party dinner this past summer complete with, you guessed it, Shark Fin Soup. "This at the same time the Canadian movie Sharkwater by Toronto Film Maker Rob Stewart was the biggest box office documentary in Canadian history." Mr. Dion, say it isn't so! This level of ignorance on matters of endangered species would be comical if not so tragically urgent.

I think it's time we all take a high dose of reality and face the facts - our fearless leaders will only lead us to disaster by their inability and unwillingness to act. It's going to be up to us as individuals to lead the way to sustainable develoment and the protection of our increasingly fragile planet.