Thank you for your email. I must advise that Senator Harb's bill did not proceed yesterday. He failed to secure a seconder for his motion, and so it failed. Nevertheless, I've noted your views and will keep them in mind if the subject is brought back to the floor of the Senate.
Regards, Elaine McCoy
Senator Joseph Day
Dear Sir/Madam:
Thank you for your email concerning Bill S-229, which would prohibit seal hunting in Canada.
The Liberal Party of Canada recognizes this is a sensitive issue for both those concerned about the ethical treatment of animals as well as those for whom seal hunting is a source of livelihood.
We support a balanced and sustainable approach to the seal hunt, and Liberal governments in the past have worked hard to ensure the hunt is conducted in a safe and humane manner. Studies conducted in conjunction with the World Wildlife Federation and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association have both concluded that the hunts as currently conducted are humane.
The seal hunt is an important industry for thousands of Canadians throughout the North, Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Seals have been harvested for food, fuel, shelter and other materials for hundreds of years and the subsistence hunt is a valuable link to Canadian cultural heritage.
However, we believe this traditional industry must be tightly regulated to be both sustainable and humane. Canada’s seal population is healthy and abundant – the harp seal herd is estimated to be in excess of five million animals, nearly triple the population of the 1970s. We will work to ensure that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) continues to set responsible quotas designed to ensure the health and abundance of seal herds.
Although banning the seal hunt is not the position of the Liberal Party, or any other major Canadian political party, any member can introduce a private member’s bill. These continue to be free votes within our Party.
To learn more about the commercial seal hunt and the myths surrounding it, I invite you to visit the website of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/seal-phoque/myth-eng.htm
Thank you for taking the time to share your views on this important issue.
Yours truly,
Joseph A. Day
Senator
Thank you for your email concerning Bill S-229, which would prohibit seal hunting in Canada.
The Liberal Party of Canada recognizes this is a sensitive issue for both those concerned about the ethical treatment of animals as well as those for whom seal hunting is a source of livelihood.
We support a balanced and sustainable approach to the seal hunt, and Liberal governments in the past have worked hard to ensure the hunt is conducted in a safe and humane manner. Studies conducted in conjunction with the World Wildlife Federation and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association have both concluded that the hunts as currently conducted are humane.
The seal hunt is an important industry for thousands of Canadians throughout the North, Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Seals have been harvested for food, fuel, shelter and other materials for hundreds of years and the subsistence hunt is a valuable link to Canadian cultural heritage.
However, we believe this traditional industry must be tightly regulated to be both sustainable and humane. Canada’s seal population is healthy and abundant – the harp seal herd is estimated to be in excess of five million animals, nearly triple the population of the 1970s. We will work to ensure that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) continues to set responsible quotas designed to ensure the health and abundance of seal herds.
Although banning the seal hunt is not the position of the Liberal Party, or any other major Canadian political party, any member can introduce a private member’s bill. These continue to be free votes within our Party.
To learn more about the commercial seal hunt and the myths surrounding it, I invite you to visit the website of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/seal-phoque/myth-eng.htm
Thank you for taking the time to share your views on this important issue.
Yours truly,
Joseph A. Day
Senator
Senator Tommy Banks
Thank you for your message about the seal hunt.
I am a senator from Alberta, and I know very little about seals or about hunting them. There are colleagues though, in the Senate, who know a lot about seals and the seal hunt, and to whose advice I pay particular attention.
There are as many opinions about the seal hunt as there are people. Fishermen and most scientists tell us that the explosion in the seal herd populations (it’s about three times what it was a few years ago) is a very serious problem of imbalance, and that it constitutes a very serious ecological challenge, particularly to cod stocks on which seals feed, and that are being severely depleted.
Animal rights activists tell us that the hunt is barbaric and inhumane.
You may be assured that should any legislative measure, including the Bill devised by Senator Harb, come before the Senate, it will receive the most careful consideration, and that I will follow those deliberations very closely. This is a matter that engages many Canadians, as is evidenced by the vast volume of messages received by my colleagues and me on all sides of the question.
Thank you again for letting me have your thoughts.
Tommy Banks
Senator for Alberta
I am a senator from Alberta, and I know very little about seals or about hunting them. There are colleagues though, in the Senate, who know a lot about seals and the seal hunt, and to whose advice I pay particular attention.
There are as many opinions about the seal hunt as there are people. Fishermen and most scientists tell us that the explosion in the seal herd populations (it’s about three times what it was a few years ago) is a very serious problem of imbalance, and that it constitutes a very serious ecological challenge, particularly to cod stocks on which seals feed, and that are being severely depleted.
Animal rights activists tell us that the hunt is barbaric and inhumane.
You may be assured that should any legislative measure, including the Bill devised by Senator Harb, come before the Senate, it will receive the most careful consideration, and that I will follow those deliberations very closely. This is a matter that engages many Canadians, as is evidenced by the vast volume of messages received by my colleagues and me on all sides of the question.
Thank you again for letting me have your thoughts.
Tommy Banks
Senator for Alberta
Senator Lorna Milne
Good Afternoon,
Thank you very much for your recent letter regarding the Canadian Seal Hunt. This is a very important issue and I am pleased you have taken the time to share your view with me on this matter. I have had the opportunity to become intimately involved in the debates surrounding this topic in the past decade and I am happy to respond to your letter by dispelling a few of the myths regarding the Canadian Seal Harvest.
For many Canadians located close to the Gulf of St. Lawerence, off the east coast of Newfoundland, and in the North, harvesting seals has been part of a traditional way of life for hundreds of years. Thousands of Canadians rely on this activity as an important source of income every year. In April 2007, the House of Commons Committee on Fisheries and Oceans stated, “This activity is particularly important to Inuit communities in the North who have for generations depended on the seal for their survival and economic well-being. The threat of a ban on the importation of products from the seal harvest is a real concern to these people, and the Canadian government has to do a better job at defending their interests on the international scene.”
In September 2006, I had the displeasure of rebuking the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Loyola Hearn for failing to appropriately respond to a European Parliament call for a ban on the sale of Canadian seal products. At the time, my colleague Bill Matthews said the Minister’s cavalier attitude to the livelihood and reputation of thousands of citizens of Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada’s Aboriginal People was absolutely unacceptable.
During this period there were between 5000 and 6000 Canadians involved in this industry which produced an average of about $3,000 each in annual income. In areas that experience unemployment rates that are usually more than 30 per cent higher than the national average, this is a significant amount of income.
Unfortunately, Mr. Matthews’s words were incredibly perceptive since under this Conservative government the value of the seal hunt has dropped from $32 million to about $7 million. Meanwhile, it has been the constant practice of groups opposed to the hunt to use outdated and out of context images of the seal hunt to distort the public’s view of the hunt. Distorted, false and even doctored images of the seal hunt are among the most effective tools for fundraising by many extreme animal rights groups.
As President of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association from 2004 to 2007, I have had literally dozens of opportunities to hear the arguments brought forward by European Parliamentarians regarding this issue while attending Council of Europe sessions on behalf of Canadian Parliamentarians. I have also had numerous chances to hear from Canadians stakeholders as well, and have come to a few conclusions of my own.
It is my understanding that the Government of Canada makes every effort to ensure the seal hunt is conducted in a safe and humane manner. In 2005, an Independent Veterinarians' Working Group (IVWG) on the Canadian Harp Seal Hunt was formed to review the Canadian seal hunt and contribute to the promotion of animal welfare. The working group made recommendations based on improving the humaneness of the hunt and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is adopting these recommendations through further consultation with the Working Group and industry stakeholders. In fact the Canadian Seal Hunt is the most stringently regulated and closely monitored fishery in the world, with trained government observers on every boat, at every dock and in every processing plant.
In their report, the Independent Veterinarians' Working Group on the Canadian Harp Seal Hunt concluded: "the Canadian harp seal hunt is professional and highly regulated by comparison with seal hunts in Greenland and the North Atlantic. It has the potential to serve as a model to improve humane practice and reduce seal suffering within other hunts."
I agree with the April 2007 findings of House of Commons Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. The Canadian seal harvest is a humane and sustainable activity. It is an important part of the economic, cultural and social fabric of Canada’s East coast and the North and has a crucial role in achieving and maintaining an ecological balance with other marine species. I encourage you to have an objective look at all the material that you review regarding this issue and then come to your own conclusion. We know it is sustainable because the harp seal herd in the Northwest Atlantic has increased from about 1.9 million in 1970 to an estimated 5.82 million in 2005.
I want to thank you once again for sharing your views with me on the issue of the Canadian Seal Harvest. If you have any questions regarding this, or any other issue concerning the Government of Canada, please do not hesitate to contact me on a future occasion.
Sincerely,
Hon Lorna Milne,
Senator
Thank you very much for your recent letter regarding the Canadian Seal Hunt. This is a very important issue and I am pleased you have taken the time to share your view with me on this matter. I have had the opportunity to become intimately involved in the debates surrounding this topic in the past decade and I am happy to respond to your letter by dispelling a few of the myths regarding the Canadian Seal Harvest.
For many Canadians located close to the Gulf of St. Lawerence, off the east coast of Newfoundland, and in the North, harvesting seals has been part of a traditional way of life for hundreds of years. Thousands of Canadians rely on this activity as an important source of income every year. In April 2007, the House of Commons Committee on Fisheries and Oceans stated, “This activity is particularly important to Inuit communities in the North who have for generations depended on the seal for their survival and economic well-being. The threat of a ban on the importation of products from the seal harvest is a real concern to these people, and the Canadian government has to do a better job at defending their interests on the international scene.”
In September 2006, I had the displeasure of rebuking the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Loyola Hearn for failing to appropriately respond to a European Parliament call for a ban on the sale of Canadian seal products. At the time, my colleague Bill Matthews said the Minister’s cavalier attitude to the livelihood and reputation of thousands of citizens of Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada’s Aboriginal People was absolutely unacceptable.
During this period there were between 5000 and 6000 Canadians involved in this industry which produced an average of about $3,000 each in annual income. In areas that experience unemployment rates that are usually more than 30 per cent higher than the national average, this is a significant amount of income.
Unfortunately, Mr. Matthews’s words were incredibly perceptive since under this Conservative government the value of the seal hunt has dropped from $32 million to about $7 million. Meanwhile, it has been the constant practice of groups opposed to the hunt to use outdated and out of context images of the seal hunt to distort the public’s view of the hunt. Distorted, false and even doctored images of the seal hunt are among the most effective tools for fundraising by many extreme animal rights groups.
As President of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association from 2004 to 2007, I have had literally dozens of opportunities to hear the arguments brought forward by European Parliamentarians regarding this issue while attending Council of Europe sessions on behalf of Canadian Parliamentarians. I have also had numerous chances to hear from Canadians stakeholders as well, and have come to a few conclusions of my own.
It is my understanding that the Government of Canada makes every effort to ensure the seal hunt is conducted in a safe and humane manner. In 2005, an Independent Veterinarians' Working Group (IVWG) on the Canadian Harp Seal Hunt was formed to review the Canadian seal hunt and contribute to the promotion of animal welfare. The working group made recommendations based on improving the humaneness of the hunt and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is adopting these recommendations through further consultation with the Working Group and industry stakeholders. In fact the Canadian Seal Hunt is the most stringently regulated and closely monitored fishery in the world, with trained government observers on every boat, at every dock and in every processing plant.
In their report, the Independent Veterinarians' Working Group on the Canadian Harp Seal Hunt concluded: "the Canadian harp seal hunt is professional and highly regulated by comparison with seal hunts in Greenland and the North Atlantic. It has the potential to serve as a model to improve humane practice and reduce seal suffering within other hunts."
I agree with the April 2007 findings of House of Commons Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. The Canadian seal harvest is a humane and sustainable activity. It is an important part of the economic, cultural and social fabric of Canada’s East coast and the North and has a crucial role in achieving and maintaining an ecological balance with other marine species. I encourage you to have an objective look at all the material that you review regarding this issue and then come to your own conclusion. We know it is sustainable because the harp seal herd in the Northwest Atlantic has increased from about 1.9 million in 1970 to an estimated 5.82 million in 2005.
I want to thank you once again for sharing your views with me on the issue of the Canadian Seal Harvest. If you have any questions regarding this, or any other issue concerning the Government of Canada, please do not hesitate to contact me on a future occasion.
Sincerely,
Hon Lorna Milne,
Senator
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
