Even worse, MacGyver just walked all over us. That’s just plain embarrassing.

There were rallies around the world today by animal rights groups urging our government to end the seal hunt, calling for a boycott against Canadian seafood products. Such a boycott could have devastating ramifications to our seafood industry, should people follow through.

As far as I can tell, this is the Canadian government’s answer to this negative public relations barrage:

Understanding Sealing and Seals in Canada

Impressive, no?

Just for fun, Google “seal hunt” and and see what you get: thousands of pages of negative publicity.

Our tactic to combat anti-sealing groups is to lay down and show our belly. The Canadian Sealers’ Association folded with little fanfare last year, leaving this industry to be defined by those who would see it end. I’d rather see our government, or a reincarnation of the sealing association, take an honest stand on this hunt: Yes, it’s ugly, but isn’t all killing? Publicize the steps that have been taken to reduce the brutality of the hunt. Publicize the facts about the size of the existing seal population. Publicize the myopic focus of the animal rights groups who use the seal hunt to bump donations every year, and their lack of presence in protecting cod from extinction.

The belly-tactic obviously isn’t working.

More reading on the seal hunt:
Comments on this blog
Hollett’s Take: Cod Aren’t Cute Enough
The Independent

Many thanks to those who emailed me today to tell me about the Fair Deal mention in the Speech from the Throne:

http://www.gov.nf.ca/releases/2005/exec/0315n05.htm

Very nice. The entire release is a good read, and this in particular got my attention:

It’s time to retreat and refocus.

The Fair Deal effort was a campaign with a singular goal, and that goal was achieved. Now, in order to keep the community alive and build on it in a relevant and meaningful way, this web site needs to add new features and broaden its mission. To that end, I am going to take a hiatus from regular blog posting to work solely on a new mission for this site. Steps have already been taken in this process, but there is more work to be done, and I would like to give it my full attention.

What if the Fair Deal community can be called on for another campaign?
If there is a needed action where this community can muster support and engage in another campaign, I will drop what I am doing and start that campaign in a heartbeat. I am the gatekeeper of the Fair Deal community, and that is very important. If there is an issue affecting Newfoundland and Labrador that requires our attention, I’ll start active campaign efforts once again.

Will I still post on this blog?
Yes, but my priority with Fair Deal has now become rebuilding and renovating, instead of maintaining.

Will the comments section remain open?
Yes. Nothing about the web site will be changed; active discussions can certainly continue.

This day has been coming for some time, and it is the right thing to do. The campaign and the community deserves to grow, and that endeavour requires dedicated time. I’ll still be here, posting occasionally, and I am always available on email.

See you soon!

Liam O’Brien posted a seal FAQ:

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/faq_e.htm.

Randy Raymond poses the question “Who do we write?", and to that I would add, “What do we do?”

Well, I am about as removed from the seal hunt as anyone can get (side note: my grandfather was a sealer). I’d ask learned readers out there: lend your knowledge. Are there decision-makers in office that can be lobbied on this front? Is there a viable alternative campaign that can be run to combat entrenched other side?

One of the challenges of being a Newfoundlander abroad, for me personally, is the recurring question “Bash any seals lately?” This is asked in jest, of course, but let me answer it here.

No. I haven’t bashed a seal today. Kicked a puppy on the way to work, strangled a squirrel or two, but no seals. Today, anyway.

This question is due in no small part to the amazing success of the animal rights groups’ decades old public relations campaign against the Canadian seal hunt. I don’t know much about sealing at all. I hear that the population of seals is off the charts, but I also hear that our sealing industry is an exercise in unparalleled barbarism, and this latter voice always muffles supporters of the hunt. Most of the information I have ever gotten on the seal hunt has come from people who have a distinct and clear motivation: to end the hunt. Always, when I hear their arguments, I can’t help but see them as hypocritical: why didn’t they put their efforts behind ending the decimation of the north Atlantic cod stocks? Where were they then?

They were out ogling cute seals, who are certainly easier on the eyes than a cod. Isn’t there some hypocrisy there?

March 15th will be a global day of action to end the Canadian seal hunt. In Washington, there will be a major demonstration at the Canadian embassy. Internationally, our province will be portrayed as perpetrators of another holocaust in the animal kingdom, and as this slide show suggests, sealers will be colored as merely indulging an an-off season activity to make a little extra money.

I would be hard pressed to kill a seal, or anything for that matter. Unquestionably. But I’m equally hard pressed to put blind faith in the “facts” from groups who base their activism decisions on the cuteness of animals. Ever see a kid cuddle a baby cod?

Thursday on the CBC:

Premier Danny Williams was in Washington D.C. on Monday to participate in a governor’s conference

I’m not the most photogenic smiler on the face of the planet. Show some teeth, as my mother would say.

Premier Williams asked to meet with me between meetings on Wednesday, where he reiterated his thank-you to the Fair Deal community. He was extremely appreciative of our support of his fight with Ottawa, and I am extremely appreciative that he took time out of his demanding schedule to tell me this in person.

Let anyone who wondered about whether we made an impact in the offshore oil revenue debate put their doubts to rest. We helped keep focus on the issue. We helped by sharing our views with those we put in office. We helped by being vigilant advocates for the best possible future for Newfoundland and Labrador. We have a Premier who fully understands the value of this movement, and the power of grassroots mobilizing on the internet.