Provincial Government Urges Senate of Canada to
Defeat Liberal Motion to Abolish the Seal Harvest

The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, is encouraging the Senate of Canada to send a strong message in support of the Canadian seal harvest today by defeating an anti-sealing motion currently before the upper chamber. Liberal Senator Mac Harb of Ontario introduced the bill this week, with the support of his colleague Senator Larry Campbell of British Columbia.

“The Canadian seal harvest is a viable, humane and a very important industry for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,” said Minister King. “Our government strongly opposes the introduction of the anti-sealing bill by Liberal Senator Mac Harb. We need to eliminate the propaganda being spread about this industry and focus on the facts.”

The annual harp seal harvest off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador has undoubtedly become one of the world’s most controversial harvests of wild renewable resource. The campaign year-after-year by anti-sealing organizations to end the harvest continues. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador clearly supports the annual harvest and understands the importance it serves for rural and coastal communities throughout this province.

“The motivations for opposing the harvesting of seals and any public support garnered have been based on misinformation and propaganda,” said Minister King. “I remind lawmakers and the general public that the Senate bill soon to be debated has enormous implications for all cultures and economies that rely on the harvest of wild animals, terrestrial or marine, for community livelihoods and personal use. We hope representatives in the chamber from throughout the country see that the facts of the harvest are in stark contrast to the inaccurate portrayal anti-sealing groups have presented. Rural and coastal communities of Newfoundland and Labrador, and all Atlantic Canada, depend on the annual seal harvest. Our government will continue to support it in whatever ways possible.”

In anticipation of the debate, the Provincial Government will be providing information packages to Newfoundland and Labrador’s representatives in the Senate with the hope they will encourage other representatives to stand up for the industry and decry the anti-sealing movement and actions of Liberal Senators Harb and Campbell.

Information regarding sealing in Newfoundland and Labrador can be found at www.gov.nl.ca/fishaq/sealing/index.html. 

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Media contact:
Bradley Power
Director of Communications
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
709-729-3733, 699-5707
BradleyPower@gov.nl.ca 

2012 05 04             4:25 p.m.