I like carrots too!

Some anti-sealing vegetarians are upset. To garner public support, they are unfairly criticizing me for attacking all vegetarians. But they are wrong—hey, I like carrots!—and they are not fooling anyone.

If these individuals are particularly vindictive lately it is because they sense the tide is turning against them.

There has been a lot of bad news recently for opponents of the seal hunt. In December 2009, I tabled a motion in the Senate recognizing the right of coastal communities to earn a living from the use of animal resources. It was passed unanimously and received the support of the Government of Nunavut as well. In January 2010, the Government of Canada went on a trade mission to China and got positive feedback on developing markets for seal products. That same month, the Inuit of Canada and Greenland decided to put the European Union’s ban on seal products to the test in the European courts. One week ago, the Quebec government announced $192,527 in funding to market seal products. In addition, the Universal Declaration on the Ethical Harvest of Seals, which I introduced last year, is becoming better known as more people sign the petition and join the coalition (sealsonline.org).

Lastly, my recent trip to Nunavut and my meeting with the Minister of the Environment has definitely annoyed the anti-sealing vegetarians. The ban on seal products makes an exception for the Inuit and their personal consumption. But my very productive talks with the Minister and his clear commitment to help market seal products for the benefit of Inuit communities are a snub to sealing opponents.

So it’s not surprising that the anti-sealing vegetarians are in a panic. But rather than debate the issue, they are attacking me on the pretext that I am presenting vegetarians in a bad light. But no one, not Green Party candidate David Ruffieux, or Ms. Rondeau, who was quoted in Le Soleil, or any vegetarian group, spoke out when the Minister of Fisheries was hit with a pie (which constitutes an assault) or when the Facebook photo of Sara Green, the current Miss Newfoundland, was tampered with. As long as this silence persists, it will be hard to distinguish between pacific vegetarians and those who aren’t.

As for Ms. Rondeau, who stated on February 23 in Le Soleil that I got angry, I would like to challenge her remarks and provide some clarification. Chantal Rondeau called my office on February 16 but introduced herself as Chantal Dupuis, a journalist with the Journal de Québec. She said she was building a case against sealing, which I thought was an extreme position for a journalist to take. I called the managing editor, Jean LaRoche, who confirmed that no one named Chantal Dupuis worked for the paper. Those are the tactics being used by the anti-sealing vegetarians. They don’t need me to tarnish their image and they shouldn’t be giving me any lectures.