Opinion Polls Suggest Canadian Public Support for Governor General’s Praise of Seal Meat

FUR INSTITUTE OF CANADA PRESS RELEASE, MAY 29, 2009

Opinion Polls Suggest Canadian Public Support for Governor General’s Praise of Seal Meat

While Casting Doubt on Claims of Animal Rights Groups

OTTAWA, May 29, 2009: According to the Seals and Sealing Network (SSN), a stakeholder group operating under the Fur Institute of Canada (FIC) that monitors public media about seal hunting, Governor General Michaelle Jean’s recent public tasting of seal meat in Rankin Inlet resonated well to further Canadian public understanding of sealing.

The SSN looked at six online opinion polls regarding the Governor General’s actions. Questions asked ranged from those seeking reactions to Jean’s participation in the Inuit ceremony, to those seeking a broader response to Canadian sealing.

“The majority of support was sympathetic to seal hunting, both Inuit and non-Inuit, consistently gaining between two-thirds and three-quarters of the votes,” says Rob Cahill, Executive Director of the FIC. “Clearly, public opinion on this issue is not representative of ‘an overwhelming majority of Canadians against seal hunting’, as many animalist propaganda groups have been known to claim.”

Cahill commends the Governor General for the significance of her public display of cultural acceptance. “In our experience, the anti- sealing movement tends to exploit attitudes of intolerance towards culturally distinct communities, but Ms. Jean’s simple gesture does a considerable amount to bring the world of rural, coastal and northern living into the homes of urban Canada.”

Meanwhile, with a European Union ban on trade in commercial seal products set to be passed into law in the coming months, the SSN is happy to have the Governor General’s help in highlighting true Inuit concerns over the action.

“Early on in their lobby against commercial seal products, animal-rights groups exploited political sympathies for indigenous cultures by favouring a so-called Inuit exemption to a trade ban,” says Cahill. According to the FIC, this allowed Members of the European Parliament to avoid political fallout for their actions, while quietly creating a double standard based on culture, not practice.

Yet, recent attention paid to the North proves that Inuit concerns over the irrelevance of the EU exemption have been largely ignored, if not simply dwarfed by the divisive rhetoric of the anti-sealing lobby.

“The way Inuit have been attacked over the Governor General’s participation in their ceremony really shows the true face of the anti-sealing lobby,” notes Cahill.

For more information or for interviews, please contact:

Rob Cahill, Executive Director, Fur Institute of Canada. Tel: (613) 231-7099; Mobile: (613) 878-0034

The Seals and Sealing Network operates under the Fur Institute of Canada, a national non-profit organization promoting sustainable and wise use principles. The Seals and Sealing Network is committed to the conservation and respectful harvesting of the world’s seal species through sound scientific management and internationally accepted sustainable use practices. It comprises government, Inuit, veterinarians, conservationists, health care practitioners and Industry representatives. For more information, please go to www.fur.ca or www.sealsandsealing.net.