QUESTION PERIOD — Fisheries and Oceans
Seal Products
June 20, 2024
Senator Gold, the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans recently published a report titled Sealing the Future: A Call to Action, which underscores the devastating impact of misinformation and disinformation on the sealing industry.
Misinformation spread by certain registered Canadian charities and non-profit organizations include false claims such as the inhumanity of the seal harvest, harvesting of baby seals, the depletion of seal populations due to the harvests and the absence of a market for seal products. Recommendation 4 reads:
. . . that the Government of Canada urgently review and amend the Income Tax Act and all other related acts, as needed, to ensure that registered Canadian charities and non‑profit organizations that produce or promote misinformation and/or disinformation about the . . . harvest . . . have their tax-exempt status revoked.
Senator Gold, what is the government’s strategy for implementing this important recommendation?
Thank you for your question. The government very much appreciates the important work that our committees do, notably the Fisheries and Oceans Committee. As a former deputy chair of that committee, I still feel an affection for it and, frankly, I miss the time that I spent there with many of you.
As I said in this chamber in response to similar questions on this subject, the government is currently reviewing the recommendations in the report and is taking them very seriously, but I have nothing further to report vis-à-vis the progress it is making in that regard.
Thank you very much, Senator Gold. Will you commit to seeking a more fulsome answer when I ask this question again in September?
Thank you for your question. I certainly will continue to be attentive to the study that the government is doing with regard to those important recommendations.
