Will the Government of Canada stand up for Inuit?

The CBC is reporting that seal pelt prices in Nunavut have plummeted, and places the blame on the European Union's recent ban on seal products.

But the European ban has a clear exemption for seal products from aboriginal sealing. European markets for Nunavut seal products will not be affected by the ban.

Seal pelts from Nunavut make up an estimated 3% of the seal pelts in trade, with about 10,000 seal pelts entering into trade each year. European markets are said to account for 5% of the market demand for seal pelts. If this is the case, much of the European market demand for seal products could be satisfied with seal pelts from Nunavut.

So why isn't the Government of Canada doing anything to help Canadian Inuit access the EU market - which will now ONLY be open to products from aboriginal sealing?

As today's press release by Canadian Senator Mac Harb notes, “This is a perfect opportunity for the government to secure access to the EU market, and ensure that Inuit communities will benefit. But instead of putting resources and effort into supporting these communities and helping them to market their products, the government is throwing taxpayer’s money at a doomed WTO challenge.”

It appears as though the Canadian government's tactic to “play the Nunavut Inuit card as leverage" to open markets for seal products "and have the east coast sealers follow” - as outlined in a 2001 memo from the Department of Foreign Affairs - has backfired. If Canadian Inuit suffer as a result of the EU ban, the blame will lie squarely on the shoulders of the Canadian government and their refusal to distinguish between Inuit subsistence hunting, and Canada's inherently inhumane commercial seal hunt.

If the Government of Canada truly cared about Inuit communities, for whom sealing is an important activity, now is the time to prove it and stop using Inuit as “leverage” to promote the commercial sealing industry.

Unfortunately, most politicians are so concerned with pandering for Atlantic Canadian votes in the next election that they are unlikely to "stand up" for Inuit seal hunters, even when given the opportunity to do so.

Sheryl Fink
Senior Research and Projects Specialist
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
Guelph, Ontario

^{*International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) does not oppose subsistence hunting by Inuit and other aboriginal people.}

The post was written by the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Senior Research and Projects Specialist Sheryl Fink, who is based in Guelph, Ontario. The article was originally published on Straight.com.

An internal government memo recently came to light urging Canada’s agriculture minister, Gerry Ritz, not to join the United States and Europe in banning cat and dog fur imports. Government officials fear that such action could weaken Canada’s position against countries that have banned imports of seal fur products.

The news that cat and dog fur products can be readily purchased in this country likely comes as a shock to many Canadians. Most of us would be repulsed by the idea of wearing Tigger and Fido, even those of us who eat meat and wear leather.

Cat and dog fur is most often used as trim for garments and trinkets. Fur may be dyed, shaved, and otherwise altered so that it bears little resemblance to the animal from which it came. Such fur—if labelled at all—is often mislabeled, since exporting countries are well aware of our reluctance to wear clothing made from cats and dogs.

The original article appeared on PEICanada.com...

How disappointing it is to see more whining and complaining about NGOs from Fisheries Minister Gail Shea. If she’s not careful, her term will be up before she even begins to address the real issues behind Canada’s commercial seal hunt.

I invite Minister Shea to view the seal hunt footage taken in 2007/2008/2009 by sealing observers, myself included. This is the same footage shown to European parliamentarians. This footage is not outdated - as the minister alleges - nor does it contain images of whitecoat seals.

Europeans know perfectly well the seals killed in the current hunt are not whitecoats. They also know it is irrelevant. When we talk about the difference between a two-week-old whitecoat, and the same pup once it starts to moult a few days later, colour doesn’t matter does it?

This footage shows current and graphic examples of inhumane killing during Canada’s commercial seal hunt. Seal pups are shown hooked in the face and dragged across the ice, while clearly conscious and struggling. It shows seals shot, wounded and left to suffer for prolonged periods.

I challenge Minister Shea to face all Canadians and tell them that what she sees on those videos is “humane,” that it is “professional,” and she is still proud to “stand up” for the sealing industry.

I invite her to explain to all Canadians why her government continues to waste millions of taxpayers’ dollars annually - the WTO challenge alone will cost an estimated $10 million - to support an industry that brought in little more than a million dollars last year, provides only a few days work, and tarnishes other industries such as tourism and fisheries. Taxpayer dollars wasted on trying to keep the sealing industry alive would be better spent on finding economically viable alternatives to sealing.

Meanwhile, Minister Shea’s continued enthusiasm for criticizing animal welfare NGOs simply demonstrates that she has no good arguments to defend Canada’s commercial seal hunt.

Perhaps that’s because there aren’t any?

Sheryl Fink
Senior Research and Projects Specialist
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
Guelph, Ontario

This letter to the editor was published today in The Hamilton Spectator.

Re: 'Nuts 2, sealers 0' (Viewpoint, Sept. 22)

Say what you will about some of the stunts put on by activist groups, but opposing the seal hunt is not "nuts."

Government rhetoric aside, decades of observation and veterinary studies show that in Canada's commercial seal hunt, animals continue to be killed in an inhumane manner. Eating seal is the photo op of choice for politicians, but in reality the vast majority of seal meat is left to waste, something that would not be tolerated in any other wildlife hunt.

Millions of Canadian taxpayers' dollars continue to be wasted each year on the slaughter of seals for their fur, an unnecessary product with rapidly disappearing markets.

The seal hunt provides only a few days' employment, with a landed value of barely a million dollars last year. It continues to bring shame and criticism upon our country, and it continues to be opposed by the majority of Canadians who would rather see it ended and compensation provided to sealers.

In spite of this, Stephen Harper's government has made it clear it will spare no expense in trying to keep the seal hunt afloat. That's what I call crazy.

-- Sheryl Fink, Senior Research and Projects Specialist, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Guelph

For more information please visit IFAW.org

The article published yesterday in several Sun media outlets is a good indication of a dawning awareness in Canada.- Sheryl Fink adds her comments below.

Finally! People are realizing that commercial sealing in Canada isn't about economic necessity. No, it is about regional politics, and special interest groups such as the Fur Industry that are wielding their power over the federal government when it comes to this issue. How else can we explain the Canadian government's insistence on supporting the seal hunt, when the majority of Canadians are opposed to it?

Unfortunately, Weston's article repeats the government myth that anti-sealing campaigns show whitecoat seals being killed: highly unlikely since any such photos would be at least 20 years old. The truth is that Europeans - and most Canadians - are equally repulsed by the inhumane killing of seal pups of any age, whether it be a 2 week old whitecoat, or a 3 week old "beater" with its silvery-spotted coat (the current seals targetted in Canada's commercial seal hunt).