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rfmcdonaldCan the Canadian government possibly be more juvenile?
(Wait, bad question.)
I don't think I'm the first person to note that the Conservative government is using the seal hunt as a rabble-rousing tactic aimed at enhancing its popularity among Canadians at large and in an Atlantic Canada where the Conservatives were weak in the 2008 election, especially in Newfoundland and Labrador where the Conservatives won less than a fifth of the votes cast. It's cynical, especially since recent polls do seem to indicate that a majority of Canadians not only oppose the seal hunt but think that it's a dying industry.
(Wait, bad question.)
A federal official says Canada's decision to hold the meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bankers in Iqaluit later this week is not intended to prove a point about the cultural and economic importance of seals in the North.
The unusual location for the meeting, especially in the middle of winter, has raised some eyebrows abroad and resulted in shortages in both accommodation and flight availability.
But a senior finance official, speaking on background in advance of the meetings on Friday and Saturday, insisted that Canada is not trying to gain support for the seal hunt.
Europe is in the process of placing a ban on seal products, but G7 officials from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, will be confronted with the fruits of the controversial seal hunt at every turn.
The official said Saturday night's community feast will include seal meat, some of it served raw in the traditional manner, along with Arctic char and other local and imported foods.
The ministers and bankers will also be sitting on seal-skin upholstered chairs at their meetings in the Nunavut assembly and they will be given seal-skin mittens and vests as parting gifts.
I don't think I'm the first person to note that the Conservative government is using the seal hunt as a rabble-rousing tactic aimed at enhancing its popularity among Canadians at large and in an Atlantic Canada where the Conservatives were weak in the 2008 election, especially in Newfoundland and Labrador where the Conservatives won less than a fifth of the votes cast. It's cynical, especially since recent polls do seem to indicate that a majority of Canadians not only oppose the seal hunt but think that it's a dying industry.
