Shameful Shea Replaced by Hunter?

This morning, while perusing Twitter, I saw that PETA tweeted a video regarding the Canadian Seal Slaughter, which is lamentably scheduled to occur later this month. According to the "Canadian Sealers Association" website, which I am loathe to click on, the scheduled start date for the slaughter is April 10th, meaning there is very little time left this year and it appears as though, while we have seen a change in Canadian government, there have been no substantial moves to end this massacre.  Meaning: government remains inactive - is change just a miserable lie?

How anyone can kill the beautiful creatures photographed above is beyond me.  But yet, this futile and violent greed-fest continues.  My first instinct, after watching the video tweeted by PETA, where seals were, according to the CSA, allegedly "dispatched in the most humane way possible" (hauntingly, these are the actual words the CSA uses) was to feel horrifically ill and enraged (I could honestly barely type that quote), but then I decided to look into who the new Canadian Fisheries Minister is, and how to contact them.

The news was not fantastic. While Bobby Morrissey replaced "78% pork girth" Gail Shea for her walk of Sheame back in October from her position as member of parliament for Egmont, her replacement for Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans holds a far less promising name: Hunter Tootoo.  What's in a name?  Well, I simply hoped that this was an unfortunate coincidence, and that his name didn't really mean anything. I was sadly mistaken, and after doing a little research, found that one of Hunter's hobbies is (deep breath) hunting: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/about-notre-sujet/minister-ministre-eng.htm I'm really running out of steam already here because the whole scenario is starting to feel unsettlingly hopeless.

It only gets worse from here...

It seems that the (dis)honourable Gail Shea has been replaced by someone just as, or possibly even more dishonourable.  In fact, Hunter Tootoo even wore a sealskin tie to a fête at the white house.  He says this is part of his heritage, and we often see heritage and tradition, et cetera, used as excuses for unthinkable violence towards animals.  Depending on who reads this article (probably not many people), some may find it offensive that I do not believe heritage to be an acceptable rationale for such violence, but I believe at some point we must turn away from the past and consider how our current actions affect other living, breathing beings.  Appeal to tradition, is, after all, a logical fallacy.

Shea and Morrissey have debated over the seal slaughter in past years

Sigh... well, regardless of how bleak the situation appears to be, we can still take action by at least emailing the current fisheries minister and speaking out against the annual seal slaughter.  I know not many of my readers are Canadian, but international letters can stress how this massacre tarnishes Canada's reputation and how despicable this violence truly is.  Last August, I wrote an article asking people to email Gail Shea and some of you did.  So now it's time to email Hunter and let him know what we think of this disgraceful slaughter slated to occur later this month.

Here is Hunter's email: Hunter.Tootoo@parl.gc.ca

I plan on emailing him myself.

On a more amusing note, I had no idea until today that Shea received a pie in the face from a PETA activist back in 2010.  Ridiculously, a fellow MP described the event as "an act of terrorism."

Pie-face Shea

Here is a video:

In all seriousness, though, April really is the cruelest month.  We need to try and find a way to end this horrifying slaughter.

Peta form to End Canada's Seal Slaughter: https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4119

TTY articles about Gail Shea:

This sorrowful Canada

Canada: right of reply

Gail Shea in search of a new hobby