Speaking of Furbearer Management
and Conservation
“Madame Bardot, Canada is no longer a
colony!”,
says senator Céline Hervieux-Payette
OTTAWA, March 22, 2006 – Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette and Senator
Michel Biron, with the support of Senators Charlie Watt and Willie Adams,
who are currently in the North, and Senator Marcel Prud’homme, have joined
forces against the international campaign against seal hunting practices,
a traditional activity of the Inuit and Canadians living on the perimeter
of the continent, that is, in Newfoundland, the Magdalen Islands etc.
“The seal hunt is an essential part of the Inuit way of life. Since food
is very expensive in the North, local food sources such as seal meat are
essential to people’s survival. It would be devastating for the Inuit if
we were to lose our right to hunt. For traditional Inuit, it is a matter
of life and death,” said Senators Charlie Watt and Willie Adams.
Robert B. Cahill, Executive Director of the Fur Institute of Canada, added
that “this trade is worth $16.5 million per year and allows families to
remain in their community.”
In the opinion of Henri Motte, an oceanographer and fishery development
researcher from the University of Ottawa, “the survival of seal stocks is
guaranteed, as they have increased from 1 million to 5 million head over
the past 25 years. The annual ground fish consumption of 325,000 seals is
approximately 468,000 tonnes. Killing these 325,000 seals increases
fishing capacity by 30%; it is now approximately 1 million tonnes
annually.” This opinion is also shared by the eminent Canadian ecologist,
Pierre Dansereau.
Let us recall that Canada banned the hunting of whitecoats and bluebacks
in 1987. The Marine Mammal Regulations prohibit the trade, sale or
bartering of the furs of these young seals. Similarly, seal hunting is
prohibited in breeding areas. Moreover, it is prohibited to kill a mammal
except in a manner that is designed to kill it quickly. “Millionaires such
as Paul McCartney and Brigitte Bardot must surely be loath to face the
facts,” noted Senator Biron.
For her part, Senator Hervieux-Payette, reminded Ms. Bardot that “Canada
is no longer a French colony.” The Senators argue that if Brigitte Bardot
and Paul McCartney used their fame to defend children and women who are
the victims of war, abuse and violence instead of insidiously attacking
the seal hunt, which is a way of life for a minority in Canada, they would
have their support.
Ms. Doris Berthiaume, Executive Assistant
Office of Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette, PC.
(613) 947-8008
