Belgium has already banned all seal products - England is lobbying the EU for a ban - and now the Agriculture Minister of Germany will introduce legislation.
Horst Seehofer, Germany's agriculture minister, said he has repeatedly urged the European Union to prohibit imports of all seal products, but has grown tired of waiting for action.
He said he will introduce a bill to ban imports in Germany, but it remains unclear when that will happen or if there is political support for a ban.
This from a CP story today.
And what is our Minister doing? Let me remind you - Loyola Hearn is inviting "observers" (protesters) from all over the world to come and watch.
It is time that the Departments of International Trade and Foreign Affairs took a stand. Let's start demanding inspections of all slaughter houses in Europe and the United States.
The games have begun again this year in earnest - these groups need to raise as much money as they can for the next month or so on the backs of our sealers. Fishers in New Brunswick and PEI are also throwing it back at Newfoundland and Labrador to deal with. Atlantica should be fun!
3 comments:
I was listening to that Rebecca whatsername today gloat over the likelihood of Germany banning the import of seal products. What a bitch to be sure !! She knows full well that what she is saying is nothing but vicious propaganda intended to replenish the coffers of the loony fringe who have made an industry out of "protesting". Because of the prestige she's gained in this clique as a brazen propagandist , she thinks nothing of sticking a knife in the backs of her own people. There is more than enough rational information to discredit the twit, so there should never be a thought of conceding defeat and making ourselves look even more gutless in the eyes of the world. There are enough Newfoundland bloggers to make a real impact in countering the lies she's paid to spread by the U.S. Humane Society and others of their ilk.
Y A W N.............. Oops sorry.
I always react with a yawn when I am forced to continuously watch a boring replay of a movie I have seen many times before.
So, here we go again. It's that time of year again when animal rights militants make their annual pilgrimage to the cash box known as the atlantic seal hunt.
More structured footage, more taunting intimidation, more media events, more beautiful people on beautiful scenery splashed with the blood of "baby" seals.
More righteous indignation from the misinformed and the misled spoon fed to them by those who see themselves and their cause of animal rights as the social elite.
Greater gobs of verbal and written bile being directed at people whose " fault " is to pursue a legal activity.
Don't waste your time on calling on Ottawa banning anything from countries choosing to participate in this charade. It just will not happen. Ottawa will not ban the purchase of planes, wines, automobiles or anthing else to make the point it supports its people.
Ottawa's game plan will be to wait it out. To get past this season to the next as it has for the last 30 years or so. It will minimize damage to anything west of Port Aux Basque and tolerate anything east. Loyola Hearn will be no different.
Ottawa will achieve this through controling response to animal rights protestors to a relatively small group of sealing industry stakeholders. That group will be wined and dined. Travelled and feted.
Sadly, that group will also continue to make it abundantly clear that their interests are limited to financial benfits to themselves. They have become all about restricting licenses and decreasing resourse access to others while increasing the dollar value to themselves.
Ottawa is ok with that. To date no other industries have said they have had enough of the boycotts and are willing to fight back. To the contrary. Some, Ann in PEI and fisherman's groups are now becoming willing to throw in the towel as they feel abandoned by the sealing industry and the Federal Government.
IFAW's tactics of using the front for footage to fundraise while closing markets through legislation sure appears to be working. They are not being offset in any meaningful way by a coordinated initiative from a group mandated to deal with misrepresentations, misunderstandings or outright lies against the seal hunt. No sign of the other Loyola here. The newly minted Ambassador for Fisheries Conservation. How about it Loyola? You could do some good here.
Up until recently Canadians have supported the rights of fishemen to pursue a legal, sustainably managed and humanely conducted hunt. After all, the slaughter houses of Alberta and canneries of B. C. will be next when the militants become unoccupied by seals.
I fear this support may be slipping into lethargy though.
Has the battle been lost? Should Canada continue (or as I would argue "begin") to fight.
Other stakeholders have been able to be isolated from this fight by the Federal Government. Other Countries with similar problems such as Norway, Japan, Greenland, Iceland. Other industries such as the meat, fur, oils, tourisms etc. Other groups such as aboriginals have been successfully isolated.
All deliberately kept away because their prescense would force Ottawa beauracrats to lose control over the issue.
The solution, if there is to be one, remains in Newfoundland and Labrador taking over "directing mind" control of the initiative.
We must cause to be established an organization of stakeholders to proactively bring forward the rights of humans to live off meats, furs etc if they so choose.
We must get a buy-in from other stakeholders. Elevate the issue to the level it deserves. Interim fund the initiative with long term funding coming from resource utilization participants.
And one last point. Please don't depend on Ottawa for funding for this group. Know what I mean????
Mike Kehoe when are you going to join forces with Sue Kelland Dyer and add your name to the list of potential politicians vying for either MHA or MP status? I can't wait to have people of your calibre coming forth to represent us espousing the views both of you put forth.
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