QUESTION PERIOD — Fisheries and Oceans
Seal Harvest
April 11, 2024
My question is to the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, as senators in the chamber are likely aware, our Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is working on a draft report on Canada’s seal populations and their effect on Canada’s fisheries. Our committee heard from Minister Lebouthillier on ways to promote our sealing industry against the backdrop of misinformation and disinformation spread by some so-called animal rights organizations including by marketing seals as a delicacy as we did previously with lobster.
What is the government doing in order to support this vital industry in my province and to Canada as a whole and to counter the dangerous rhetoric in these campaigns?
Thank you for the question and thank you for the work that the committee is doing to address this important question.
The government understands very well the importance as well as the harm that can come to communities unless the question of how the seal population is managed is done properly and sensitively, mindful of the economic consequences of those decisions, understanding the historical role of the sealing industry to communities, First Nations and others and also mindful of the impact that certain populations may have on fish stocks of other species.
It is a delicate but important balancing act that the government is continuing to work diligently on and looks forward to the report of the committee.
Senator Gold, this idea to market seals as a delicacy has prompted backlash, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW, has put out a news release stating:
. . . Since the 1990s, Canada has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars trying to revive the commercial seal hunt. Most Canadians are struggling to make ends meet, and they don’t want to see their tax dollars spent on harm to native wildlife.
What is your response to this clear misrepresentation of the facts?
Senator Petten, thank you for your question. I am really not in the position to offer the government’s response to that, but, once again, I think the government looks forward with interest to this study that the committee will be doing. As a former member of the committee, I can vouch for the quality and seriousness of its work and the government looks forward to receiving all of the recommendations.
