Shark fin ban sparks threatening ‘hate crime’ letter, say residents

Toronto police are treating a letter threatening to poison food in Chinatown’s stores and restaurants as a hate crime. The Chinese community blames the threat on fallout from the recent shark fin ban.

LiPo Ching/MCT

Jessica Vitullo Staff Reporter

 

Toronto police are treating a letter threatening to poison food in Chinatown’s stores and restaurants as a hate crime. The Chinese community blames the threat on fallout from the recent shark fin ban.
The threatening letter — sent to the Toronto Chinese Business Association (TCBA) — is just one of a string of similar threats in the past few months, according to community leader Kai Tao.
He said the TCBA executive director Barbara Chiu has received most of these threats as emails and letters.
The Toronto Police Hate Crime Unit stepped in to investigate the letter because of its threatening content, said Const. Tony Vella.
“The content of the letter is quite concerning,” he said. “We’re classifying it as a hate crime.”
According to Tao, the letter has had a significant impact on the community.
“I don’t want to see this happen in Toronto,” he said. “We are law-abiding citizens and this is an emotionally-charged discussion.”
Tao argues the shark fin ban is ridiculous and, as a result, the threatening letters are making it worse for the community.
“I think city councillors should think of the consequences of their behaviour,” he said.
In the meantime, an investigation is ongoing and the person who wrote the letter has yet to be identified.
“We are still trying to find out what the motivation is by sending this letter,” said Vella.
“Fingerprint analysis, handwriting analysis would be done. We are trying to trace where the letter originated from.”