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 Meanwhile, it has been the constant practice of groups opposed to the hunt to use outdated and out of context images of the seal hunt to distort the public’s view of the hunt.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
About Me
- Shiananda
- Peace and Love For All Animals. Let us create earth the way the divine plan was intended. All life once lived in Eden, humans have created Hell. We can exchange hell for heaven with each simple action we take, each inspiration we evoke, each pleasure we ensure is not at the expense of another.