Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette defends the sustainable harvesting of seals

The Honourable Céline Hervieux-Payette, P.C.
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate

 

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

 

Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette defends
the sustainable harvesting of seals

OTTAWA, March 15, 2007 – “Pictures of whitecoats have become weapons of mass disinformation”. Speaking at a press conference launching a counter-protest by supporters of sustainable seal harvest in Canada, Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, condemned the use of rhetoric by manipulative, profit-oriented lobby groups. She warned these groups to be careful not to use pictures of whitecoats in their publications and on their websites because hunting of baby harp seals has been banned in Canada since 1987.

Senator Hervieux-Payette also called to task the European parliamentarians who are threatening to ban the import of all seal-derived products: The Senator asked, “Do we want to raise seals like Europeans raise deer, ostrich and wild board, before it becomes more acceptable?”

Senator Hervieux-Payette reiterated that Canada is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and has the same concern for the environment as do all peoples who have been able to integrate finite natural resources into their development.

The seal population has tripled in the past thirty years. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes that countries have a sovereign right to harvest their resources in accordance with their environmental policy. Senator Hervieux-Payette asked whether we should be requesting “international supervision of [the] herds and an examination of the butchering techniques used in [the] slaughterhouses.”

Lastly, Senator Hervieux-Payette expressed her support for those who have been unfairly accused of “animal genocide”, saying that the lies and misinformation humiliate men and women, mothers and fathers, who are eminently respectable.” They are engaging in economic activities that are perfectly legal. “The desire to raise children in decent surroundings” has never been “a crime against humanity,” she added.

Maximilien Depontailler
Policy Advisor
Office of the Honourable Céline Hervieux-Payette, P.C.
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
613-947-8008
deponm@sen.parl.gc.ca