ALBERTA, Canada – When 17-year-old Keenan Shaw sees an opportunity, he jumps on it.

And the new diet-only soft drink rule at his Lethbridge, Alberta high school was the perfect opportunity.

“Mr. Shaw arrived at the school last week carrying a case full of pop, which was recently banned from the school,” the National Post reports. “He began selling it to fellow students, knowing he was flouting the administration’s restrictions on the drink but not expecting the punishment.”

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Sales were booming, until school administrators stepped in.

After a week of selling full flavored Pepsi from his school locker, Shaw was slapped with a two-day suspension for refusing to follow the school’s nonsensical restrictions.

“I thought it was a joke,” Shaw told the news site. “I didn’t think they could (suspend) me for selling pop.”

Lethbridge superintendent Sheryl Gilmour told the National Post said selling the illegal pop at school violated the district’s nutritional policy, as well as marketing and distribution rules.

And it wasn’t so much that Shaw violated the rules as it was his refusal to end his burgeoning business that got him in trouble, she said.

“At some point, there could be refusal from a student. They might say, ‘I won’t follow your rules,’” Gilmour said. “In that situation, a school doesn’t have a lot of avenues for disciplinary action (aside from suspension).”

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“It’s about refusing to comply with the rules.”

Shaw’s mother, Alyssa Shaw-Letourneau, said she understands, but believes the punishment is a little harsh.

“I like the idea of him being an entrepreneur,” she told the National Post. “I know there’s rules, but I tend to think suspensions are for major problems.”

“I won’t dispute he took action on a market,” superintendent Gilmour said. “but entrepreneurs have to follow rules, too.”

Gilmour told the Post part of the reason students can’t sell stuff at school is because “schools are an environment free of advertising and merchandise – unless previously approved by the principal.”

Regardless, Shaw said he’s learned a lot from the experience, including a loophole that will allow him to continue to collect his pop profits.

“I’ve learned a lot about business and authority as well as supply and demand, as well as how location ties into all these factors,” he told the Calgary Sun.

“I sold a couple cans today — I’ve found a little loop hole,” he added. “I can walk out to the sidewalk, make the trade off, and walk back into the school.”