Bigmouth strikes again!

Morrissey says he won't play Canada because of seal hunt
TERRY WEBER
Globe and Mail Update
Former Smiths lead singer Morrissey says he won't play any Canadian dates on his upcoming world tour in protest of the seal hunt.

In a statement posted on Morrissey fan Web site True To You, the singer offers a harsh criticism of hunt — which he terms an "horrific slaughter" — and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's defence of it.

"The Canadian Prime Minister says the so-called cull is economically and environmentally justified, but this is untrue," the singer said.

"The seal population has looked after itself for thousand of years without human intervention, and, as the world knows, this slaughter is about one thing only: making money."

Morrissey is gearing up a tour to promote his upcoming album, Ringleader Of The Tormentors. The first single, You Have Killed Me, was released in Britain this week.

But he says he won't play any dates in Canada and has called on fans to boycott Canadian goods, accusing the country of placing "itself alongside China as the cruellest and most self-serving nation."

"I fully realize that the absence of any Morrissey concerts in Canada is unlikely to bring the Canadian economy to its knees, but it is our small protest against this horrific slaughter," he said.

He also dismisses arguments that the hunt is an economic necessity by providing jobs to local communities.

"Construction of German gas chambers also provided work for someone -- this is not a moral or sound reason for allowing suffering," he said.

"If you can, please boycott Canadian goods. It will make a difference."

A number of celebrities have arrived in Canada in recent weeks to protest the hunt.

In February, Sir Paul McCartney, an ex-Beatle and vegan, came to Canada with his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, to stage a high-profile protest. After posing on ice floes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mr. McCartney went head-to-head with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams on CNN's Larry King Live.

The singer called the hunt a stain on the Canadian people. But Mr. Williams stood his ground, arguing that it provides a livelihood to remote communities.

Earlier this month, French actress Brigitte Bardot took her campaign against the centuries-old hunt to Ottawa, holding a press conference and requesting a meeting with Mr. Harper.

Mr. Harper refused, saying "I respect Ms. Bardot and all other famous people who have causes, but it's not in my nature to need to have my picture taken with celebrities."

The annual hunt began last weekend.

Separately Tuesday, actress Pamela Anderson has asked for a meeting with the Prime Minister following her hosting duties at Sunday's Juno Awards in Halifax.

"As a proud Canadian who frequently travels abroad, I am alarmed that people are starting to see Canada as a country more beholden to a pack of greedy hunters and to the seal-skin 'fashion' whims of a few countries than to the massive international outcry against the hunt," Ms. Anderson, a vocal member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said in a letter faxed to Mr. Harper's office.

"One of the biggest problems facing the U.S. government is appearing aloof about its own hostile behaviour; I'd hate to see that happen north of the border too."

The actor and model said she's collected thousands of signatures via an on-line PETA petition protesting the seal hunt.

Ms. Anderson, who is from Ladysmith, B.C., said she wants to visit Ottawa on Monday to meet with Harper.

With a file from Canadian Press

More on the seal hunt

Premier defends seal hunt
'You do your thing and we will continue to do ours'
Mar. 27, 2006. 11:47 AM
CONSTANT BRAND
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The premier of Nunavut defended Canada's seal hunt Monday, saying it was vital to the survival of aboriginal peoples in the Arctic and provided an economic lifeline for an area desperate for jobs and growth.
Paul Okalik, the Inuit premier of Nunavut, said the majority of the 30,000 people in his region were dependent on seals and other native species like polar bear and fish for their everyday food.
"This is our daily basic diet — we can't grow potatoes. ... It's something we require to continue to survive and its far more nutritious than what is imported from southern Canada," Okalik told reporters.
"So we will continue to eat it, and assist our diets in living healthy. ... You do your thing and we will continue to do ours."
Canada's annual seal hunt off its Atlantic eastern coast got underway last week amid renewed criticism from environmentalists and conservationists that the hunt is cruel.
Okalik said, however, that unlike the East Coast sea hunt, the killing of seals in the North is year-round and is heavily relied on.
"The species that we harvest is the ring seal, and it's primarily adult ring seals," said Okalik. "It's not those fluffy, cute things that you see on TV all the time, that these (conservation) groups use to try and kill the sealskin market."
He said his government hopes to boost the trade in seal pelts, which would just be thrown away if there was no market for them.
"At least with trade it allows us to use the whole seal, as opposed to just discarding the hide, which is a lot more valuable than cow hide," said Okalik.
Okalik was in Brussels to speak with European Union officials to boost the profile of the problems of the Arctic region. He said the Inuit way of life is threatened by global warming
"We are seeing the effects of global climate change more predominantly in our territory," said Okalik. "We're getting shorter winters, longer summers and it's creating a bit of a real challenge. We have a strong hunting and fishing society and each spring and fall we see quite a bit of tragedies where people fall through the ice or lose their equipment. ..."
He said the rise in temperatures is also having major effects on wildlife like the polar bear, which relies on sea ice to hunt its prey.
"We require an international action to tackle it," Okalik said. He called on the EU, Canada and other Arctic countries to focus on practical measures to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, blamed for global warming.
He said his territorial government was already investing in alternative energy sources, away from fossil fuels, like more environmentally friendly sources like hydroelectricity and wind power generation.

McCartney and the Premier on Larry King Live

I might actually watch Larry King for once.

Heartbreaking seal hunt

I know that no one else cares about this but me, but here's another link to an article about Paul McCartney visiting the seals. They had to look long and hard to find an ice floe large enough and hard enough to land their helicopter on. Also a large prtion of the seals had to give birth on islands instead of on the safety of the ice (see my earlier post on the subject). Why don't they go after the polluters causing climate change and endangering seal populations rather than going after people who are just trying to make a living off of hunting or living off the land, or even just enjoy clubbing babies to death - because causing the extinction of hundreds or thousands of species through climate change is a much greater transgression in my opinion?

The bandwagon is getting mighty full there 'Sir' Paul

I totally agree that the seal hunt is bad and stupid. But here are some things to think about as well, the seals don't get clubbed to death because the hunters are crazy psychos who enjoy clubbing things to death, it's because it's impossible to shoot while standing on an ice floe on top of water. Secondly, the seals are not endangered. Shouldn't Japanese whaling be a much higher priority? People only focus on the seal hunt because the seals are cuddly and the Canadian government can be embarrassed - why not take on a real challenge and go after the Japanese? If part of the reason the seal hunt is allowed in Canada is to keep the seals from eating the fish stocks (which is BS) then why don't we stop people from killing whales, the whales can eat the seals and then the fish can get overfished by the Spanish who come and vacuum them off the ocean floor in Canadian waters like the fish poaching criminals they are. My point here is that they are only trying to make out that the Canadians are the bad guys because we are easy to push around, the seal hunt is an environmental issue that is of secondary importance, and takes no courage to get behind.


Ex-Beatle, wife in Maritimes before annual seal hunt
Last Updated Tue, 28 Feb 2006 14:30:27 EST
CBC News
Rock legend Paul McCartney and his wife Heather are expected in the Maritimes later this week to observe harp seal pups before the start of the annual hunt.

"Heather and Paul's visit to the seal pups will shine a global media spotlight on this cruel and needless slaughter," Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society of the United States said in a release.


Heather Mills-McCartney, activist and wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney. (AP file photo)
The former Beatle and his wife, known for their animal-rights activism, are expected in Canada on Thursday and Friday.

Canadian officials haven't yet confirmed the date for this year's hunt, which is usually between mid-March and mid-April on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Last year, Paul McCartney wrote an open letter to then prime minister Paul Martin that asked him to ban the hunt.

"We wanted to put you on notice that if Canada moves forward with another hunt next year, we will do all we can to focus attention on this unjustified, outdated and truly horrific practice, including, potentially, visiting the seals and the ice," the musician wrote.

The McCartneys are the latest in a long list of celebrities, including Martin Sheen, Richard Dean Anderson, Mick Jagger and Pierce Brosnan, to publicly oppose the hunt.

Protests over the commercial hunt peaked during the 1970s when actress Brigitte Bardot hugged pups on the Maritime ice floes.

The United States banned the import of seal products in 1972 and the European Union implemented a partial ban in 1983. Canada banned the killing of harp pup seals – whitecoats – in 1987.

Ottawa estimates the harp-seal population is at 5.9 million, up from two million in the 1970s.

Seal carnage that has nothing to do with sealing

Storm surge sweeps newborn seals to their death
Last Updated Thu, 02 Feb 2006 10:05:08 EST
CBC News
Hundreds of dead seal pups are expected to wash up on the shores of Nova Scotia in the aftermath of a severe winter storm.

A major storm surge on Wednesday swept scores of grey seal pups that had just been born on Pictou Island out to sea, where they drowned.


The adult seals came ashore on Pictou Island to give birth because there is little ice in the strait.
Jane MacDonald, one of the 18 people who live on the island year round, watched in horror as the adult seals tried desperately to save their pups.

"The mothers just push them and push them with their nose, and they dive back under and push them back up, and they get back into the tide wash, and then a big wave will hit and just sweep them back out to sea," she said.

A small part of the herd made it to higher ground, MacDonald said, but hundreds of seal pups were washed away.

Grey seals prefer to give birth on ice floes. But with little ice in the strait this year, the estimated herd of 2,000 moved ashore to Pictou Island.

FROM FEB. 1, 2006: Seals give birth onshore because of ice shortage
Gerry Conway, an adviser on marine mammals for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said newborn pups are still too weak to swim.


"I would anticipate we will see indications of high mortality of these seal pups over the next week or two as they wash ashore," he said. "Some of them will not show up, of course, but a lot of them will show up along the beaches of Nova Scotia."

Conway said such incidents are rare but happen from time to time.

The grey seal population will not be significantly affected, he said, noting 40,000 are on Sable Island.

No floes, so seals swarm islands to birth pups

Feb. 1, 2006. 01:00 AM

HALIFAX— Several islands off Nova Scotia are being inundated by thousands of pregnant seals forced to give birth on shore by unusually mild weather that prevented the Gulf of St. Lawrence from freezing.
About 3,000 grey seals are thought to be hunkered down on Pictou Island, a narrow, 10-kilometre long island in Northumberland Strait where about 15 people live year round.
Scientists with the federal fisheries department add that the mammals have moved to at least two other islands in the area.
Warm weather has persisted across the Maritimes for months, reflecting a nation-wide climatic trend.
The mother seals, some as heavy as 360 kilograms, normally whelp their pups on ice floes that clog the gulf.
Fisheries spokesman Leroy MacEachern said yesterday from Antigonish, N.S., "There's been no cold weather and no ice formed in the gulf."
Officials say they haven't seen so many seals onshore since the early 1980s.
Halifax wildlife officer Jerry Conway said the seals aren't necessarily in danger but asks people to stay clear since mothers can be aggressive. "If a female gets cornered and feels threatened she will take appropriate action to defend herself and that could mean they'll hurl themselves at you and then start trying to chew on you.
"We're going to find seals in places they're not normally at and where people are."
Pups are abandoned about three weeks after birth but remain out of the water until they shed their downy, white coats.
Canadian Press