Of seals and democracy
Like many people around the world, I’m thrilled the European Union has finalized its decision to ban domestic trade in products of commercial seal kills, effectively closing off about a third of Canada’s seal pelt export market. I’ve witnessed baby seals being clubbed and shot to death on the ice floes with my own eyes, and there’s no question that the slaughter is inherently inhumane, incredibly wasteful and completely needless. By ending its trade in seal products, the EU has dealt a massive blow to the Canadian seal kill, the largest slaughter of marine mammals anywhere on this planet. The impact is already apparent, as the mere threat of an EU-wide ban helped drive pelt prices down to record lows this year—less than $15, from a 2006 high of over $100. This led many sealers to stay home, and only about 70,000 seals were killed out of the 273,000 quota. Obviously, the collapsing markets mean good things for seals.
A victim of the 2009 seal slaughter. (c) Camille Labchuk
But for me, the EU’s actions mean more than simply a victory in the battle to end Canada’s seal kill. The EU trade ban also represents a triumph of democracy and in fact, speaks directly to the reason Canada still allows hundreds of thousands of seals to be killed each year: because democracy has failed Canadians.
The EU began the process of banning its trade in seal products because EU citizens demanded such measures from their government. As EU spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich explained, “The legislation was proposed because we had received tens of thousands of letters from concerned European citizens about the way the seals were killed.” Despite the enormous sums of taxpayers dollars the Canadian government blew on lobbying against the EU ban, democracy prevailed and EU citizens got the legislation they wanted. This is representative democracy in action.
Back to Canada. Like European citizens, Canadians also overwhelmingly oppose the commercial seal kill. We object to its cruelty, find the cost to our economy unacceptable, and are tired of the bloody stain it casts on our international reputation. When Senator Mac Harb courageously became the first Canadian politician to table a bill to end the killing, the positive response from the public was unprecedented. One senator received enough emails to crash his blackberry. Harb received so many petition signatures that he needed a van to deliver them to the PMO. As Harb said on the Senate floor, “During my four terms as an elected member of Parliament, there was no single issue that generated such a response from Canadians.”
This baby seal was clubbed dozens of times. (c) Camille Labchuk
It’s clear that Canadians care about this issue, and want the government to stop allowing baby seals to be bludgeoned to death. So, how has our government responded to these concerns? Well, they have arrested, jailed and prosecuted those who document the seal slaughter. They have wasted our tax dollars on futile EU lobbying efforts. The senator whose blackberry crashed threatened to call the RCMP on those who dared write to him. Parliamentarians voted unanimously (and ridiculously) to urge Olympic athletes to wear sealskin uniforms. And now, Stockwell Day is launching a $10 million World Trade Organization challenge to defend a mere $1 million industry. Even worse, not a single party in Parliament has the integrity to provide a voice to the democratic majority of Canadians. Only the Greens have taken a principled stance against the commercial seal kill (one more reason I’m proud to be a Green).
So today, I thank the EU for standing up to special interest groups like the sealing and fur lobbies and for hammering another (substantial) nail in the coffin of the sealing industry. I thank the EU for respecting the will of its citizens and upholding the principles of democracy. And I hope Canadian politicians will someday grasp the meaning of democracy, and courageously act on behalf the Canadians who wish this bloody industry to exist only in the pages of history books. Because at the most fundamental level, the continued existence of the commercial seal hunt truly represents a massive failure of our political system.
Scridb filter
Hi Camille –
I understand your concern for seals, and animals in general, but you are taking easy shots at an easy target.
Yes, seals are shot and clubbed. What animal used for human consumption isn’t? If you are opposed to the use of animals for human benefit (your veganism probably speaks to that), then why target the seal hunt of all of the many wrongs done to animals?
First, seals live in their wild, natural habitat until they are killed, unaware of their impending death. Pigs, cows, chickens and other animals are forced to live in the confined pens of factory farms, leading short and miserable lives until they are killed and processed.
It seems to me that seals have it better than these other poor animals. So why is all of the energy, effort, and publicity put into banning the seal hunt, while these other “less worthy” animals are left to suffer?
Second, look at the scale of slaughter. Massive national and international corporations are responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of livestock animals every day. Seals are slaughtered by a comparative handful of fishermen during a short season each year. They are sold on a relatively small scale.
Your attention on the seal hunt, as an affront to democracy, is misplaced. It’s very easy to attack the seal hunt, because you are attacking the livlihood of “regular joes” and not massive corporations involved in factory farming. Factory farming corporations can afford to keep their methods and abuses under the table, which should be more of a concern to our democracy than the unabashed willingness of people to participate in their controversial hunt.
Democracy ensures the protection of minorities — there are very few people involved in the sealing industry in Canada. A lack of understanding on the part of the majority should not be capable of taking away their right to seal, for no particular reason.
Yes, the seals are animals and have lives, and yes, there is an argument to be made that animals should not be killed for human consumption.
But the question is, why aren’t you trying to shut down the beef, pork, and chicken producers of Canada while you’re at it? Is your energy not better placed on stopping the large scale animal cruelty that takes place in these farms?
Why the free range seals? Why not the abused and forgotten livestock?