University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog

"They must have some mighty big killer sharks here in the Great White North."

Dear readers,

In light of the recent Edmonton Journal editorial by Paula Simons, titled Life's a Beach: When Edmonton city council starts California Dreaming, just wanted to add a few points... from a shark's perspective.

In the course of the fictional dialogue between Moondoggie and Gidget concerning the proposal to construct an artificial beach along the bank of the North Saskatchewan River, Gidget informs Moondoggie that he won't be surfing whilst at this beach based on water quality. In response, Moondoogie proclaims: "They must have some mighty big killer sharks here in the Great White North."

Well:

1) There are no sharks in the North Saskatchewan! (aside: I wish!) While it is true that some sharks (most notably the bull shark) can tolerate freshwater, we are just too darn far from the ocean here in Edmonton! There is a really cool giant shark that sometimes makes its way into the St. Lawrence estuary... no joke! The Greenland shark, which grows really slow and lives a really long time sometimes swims up that way! Interested, read a bit more here.

2) I hope he will consider advocating on behalf of sharks rather than focusing on the misperception that they are killer. An estimated 100,000 sharks are killed each year, Moondoggie! We need them for the continued health of the fragile ocean ecosystems!

#SaveSharks

Mayoral Madness

So it seems that once someone succeeds, the copycats are not too far behind. The initial success against the Mayor of Toronto, has spurred similar action against the mayor of Winnipeg, but with less successful results.

Part of me likes it when elected officals are held accountable, but part of me also feels that the ballot box is the better venue for that. There is obviously legislation allowing for these types of legal actions, although curiously only at the municipal level, so the legislature felt that legal accountability was in the toolkit.