Ottawa Fails to Support Atlantic Canada
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Whom Should We Trust About The Seal Hunt?
By Myles Higgins
When will Ottawa finally stand up for Atlantic Canada and simply stop allowing activist groups to use the seal hunt as their annual fund raiser?
Yesterday Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said that DFO intended to continue granting permits to animal rights groups, allowing them to visit the ice and film the hunt. His arguement was that we are conducting a legal hunt in a humane manner and keeping people from seeing the process would make it look like we had something to hide. In my opinion Mr. Hearn’s statement is nothing more than a cop out.
When was the last time anyone can recall activist groups being given free reign to video tape the inner workings of a slaughter house? When was the last time they offered public tours of the killing floors in a meat processing plant? The beef, poultry and pork industries do not allow activists to wander around their place of business and for a good reason. What happens isn’t very pretty.
Does the public take this ban on general entry as a sign that something wrong is going on inside? No, becuase the industry is monitored and the factories visited by various agencies to ensure that humane treatment and health guidelines are followed. The same should be done in the sealing industry.
Permits to view the hunt should be issued to unbiased, perhaps even international observers, who are willing to report the truth, good or bad, but not to slant it in a way that meets a predefined agenda. Yes, if this were done activist groups would no doubt shout and stamp their feet for a while. They’d probably claim Canada was trying to hide atrocities and they’d lobby to be given access. Let them.
With independent authorities monitoring the hunt and giving the public all the information it needs to make an honest appraisal these groups can yell into the wind all they want but what ammunition would they really be able to use?
When a country is accused of human rights violations the international community will often send independent observers and investigators. They don’t allow activist groups who’ve already made up their minds to appraise the situation. When a country is thought to be dealing with nuclear weapons the international community will have independent inspectors review the situation, not uninformed movie stars or aging musicians.
We’ve all heard the misinformation some of these activist groups spread. An example of this is the recently published list of restaraunts that are supposedly boycotting Canadian seafood. According to one activist group the boycott is going great and gaining momentum. A consumer group recently contacted over a third of the restaraunts named and found that many were still serving Canadian seafood. Those particular restaraunts did not even know they were on the list. Others contacted were vegetarian restaruaunts that never did serve seafood and many others never served Canadian seafood in the first place. According to the report only about 13% of those listed were actually supporting the anti-seal movement in their boycott.
Can we trust organizations who spread this type of mis-information to honestly appraise the methods and standards employed at the hunt? Mr. Hearn’s comment about letting them continue to monitor the hunt is just the latest in a series of sell outs by governments over the years. Can these people not see beyond the ends of their noses.
Yes, we should absolutely allow the hunt to be monitored. In that way we can all ensure that humane and safe practices are employed. Having said that, I believe it’s time our government stood up for Atlantic Canada and stopped passing out permits to activist groups, like so much candy. I mean come on folks, are activist groups, who stand to make millions from protesting the hunt, really the ones who should be monitoring it?
Myles is freelance columnist and commentator originally from the central region of Newfoundland. He now resides with his wife and a terminally lazy Terrier named “Molson” in the beautiful town of Portugal Cove – St. Philips, Newfoundland “Where the sun meets the sea”.
Myles’ interest in Newfoundland and Labrador political and social issues is obvious in his writing for several publications and on his own web site, Web Talk – Newfoundland and Labrador. A site where Myles dedicates his time to providing an open commentary and discussion forum on newsworthy items of the day.
@ March 25, 2006