Canada MPs love their seal burgers!

I don't think it's the killing of the seals thats the problem it's that this traditional hakapik way of killing them is inordinantly cruel.

Using this to kill any animal:



Simply cannot be justified in any way as being humane.

It's the 21st fucking century. Either learn how to kill them without cruelty or simply stop fucking doing it. I don't see how such an archaic and barbaric way of culling these animals is in any way defendable.

That's horrific. That looks like an ice climbing axe.

That's pretty much done to perpetuate Canadian stereotypes in the world at large. Nobody really eats that stuff. Well ... maybe places in Northwest Territories.

Then whats the purpose of the cull every year? Do seals really fuck and breed that much?

Actually, I'd disagree. In fact, I'd say if that tool is utilized correctly, it would be among the most humane ways of killing a seal in the wild

Let me explain


One of the methods of cattle slaughter that PETA would most agree with would be where they line the cow up, and blast a metal rod straight through it's brain. It's essentially a robot aligned version of that pike you've showed us.

If used with care and skill, like I'm sure a Canadian Indian would since they've hunted that way for a long time, you could let the seal join Eywa

Just because it looks like dark ages weapon, does not mean it's cruel

Apparently they do. The resultant devastation of the cod population when the seals thrive affects the fishing industry really badly.

Or so a Tom Green song told me.

Then why eat seal burgers to prove your point? Why not eat cod?

Yeah but usually they're grandstanding retards to gain some leverage against each other - whereas this seems to be bipartisan, so I'm trying to work out where they're coming from. Obviously this must have enough popular support in Canada for both sides of the aisle to be standing up for it like this.

In fact, from where I'm sitting, it doesn't sound too far removed from Japans official insistence on wanting to continue whaling, but I didn't realise Canadians were as belligerent about seal hunting as the Japanese were about 'scientifically' killing whales.

From a political perspective:

The seal cull represents a means of standing-up to obnoxious European meddling while simultaneously supporting: northerners, natives, atlantic Canada, fishermen, and our national identity. Northerners and natives are sacred cows, while atlantic Canada become such because they struggled and have oil now. No-one actually gives a shit about fishermen or our national identity, but they are conveniently associated with supporting the cull. Europeans are faggy and annoying; moreover, they overfish our stocks and then bitch about cute seals.

But no ones saying the cull shouldn't happen per se - just that it should be stopped at the moment due to the cruel nature of the way it's currently undertaken. I don't understand why the way it's done couldn't be reviewed to be more humane and thus stymie much of the criticism.

It's not bipartisan. The article only has a quote from one person. And, yes, Payette is a supporter of the seal hunts. She comes from Quebec and some of the population there participates in the seal cullings because it's their way of life and it's how they earn a living. So essentially she's sticking up for her constituents. Politicians do that all the time. She's also the one who told some Americans who sent her a letter regarding the seal hunts to mind their own business since their country invaded another country for no reason and tortured and killed prisoners of war. So she kinda doesn't really know when to keep her mouth shut. Thankfully she doesn't speak for the whole Liberal party.

But frankly there are more important issues at hand like getting our economy back on track, holding our current government accountable for the torture of Afghan detainees, creating jobs, protecting our northern sovereignty, and setting up rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan.

But the real test of all this will be when it's finally served for the first time and who decides to eat it. I'm thinking not a lot of MPs and Senators will really go for it. Some will, most likely, but I doubt everyone will flock to it. They know the seal hunt isn't too popular.

No no, I can only comment on the politicians as they're the ones doing all this seal burger eating and the like. I guess I was asking if there is mainstream Canadian support for the hunt, because if both sides of politics are in agreement on this that would suggest there is - but the thing is, every Candaian I've ever met has struck me as the sort of person who would abhor it themselves so I'm simply trying to make sense of the whole thing.

Not casting aspertions on all Candaians at all. I love canuks. Just trying to work out how this issue all works over there and what the mainstream opinion is.

ETA: something Brendan just helped with.

Hey if it was going on in my country I'd be sensitive about it as well.

I don't understand tho, if the hunt is so important, why they can't make it more humane and modern? You don't get huge protests when we kull over-populations of roos down here, but then we don't try and kill them with spikey clubs.

Sadly, it's the one of the few areas where the government kowtows to the Aboriginal population. Forget that we stole your land, stuck you in residential schools (the equivalent of internment camps), destroyed wild buffalo herds, killed off the salmon population, and dwindled your populations down to 10%, here go kill a seal. That should make you feel better!

Why did you use a baby seal picture? It's completely illegal to hunt baby seals since the 80's. Is it again another subject you know nothing about?

Fuck the "hunt". Every single year there's a shitload of evidence of inhumane and illegal activity by the sealers yet dick gets done about it.

eta: Martin are you serious?

Yes.

I know some people living in areas where seal hunt is on, and baby seals hunters are actually denounced and have their permit revoked. And I'm not for the seal hunt, but the footage of baby seals being killed is old footage, manipulative crap. And while it's really cruel to kill the seals, is it worse than shark finning? I'm againsts seal hunting, but shark finning is not only worse, but also an ecological problem of mankind.

But you probably know more about that than me.

Not to be too snarky, but people are allowed to be passionate about more than one cause.

And my question to you was originally just meant because I thought it was pretty obvious ElCap posted that pic as a funny lead in to the story rather than actual commentary on the hunt. I'm aware that white-coated seals are illegal to kill (which doesn't make a lick of difference to me).

ElCap is a moron, just in case you didn't know. I have to assume he's totally serious. When a guy actually considers voting for Sarah Palin, I assume he thinks about breathing on a second-basis and gets a severe headache when confronted by the question "would you like some water".

I was pretty much joking. I have no idea why they perpetuate a stereotype. Other than, yeah, the whole making the aboriginal people happy. Which definitely could be served in far better ways.

Essentially, I doubt any regular Canadian can come up with a good reason to keep the seal hunt or any who think it's a good idea.

For the record, I think only native Americans should be allowed to hunt seal. No one else

Yeah, most Canadians hate the seal hunt, but it's mostly a cultural, native thing, so it's a sensitive issue. I think they use those ice picks cause it's traditional, too...not sure about that one, though.

Besides, seals are nature's assholes, just ask this penguin:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/seal-g...aman-a-present

Mr Pete, not sure if you noticed but I addressed the subject of ice pick cruelty

PS What's going on in Canada is not really that bad compared to the US, where we let buisness men kill endanged polar bears for a profit. Just regular old white guys

I'm not going to freak out about some canadian indians keeping the exploding seal population under control

Stop calling them Indians, Kate!

Oh, I have to know about the great OPEC Polar Bear Hunt.

Link please?

Only Native Americans should be allowed to hunt Princess Kate. With ice picks.

Do Canadian First Peoples not like being called indians? Most indians I've ever spoken with prefer it to Native American.

Believe me, I'm very much on the side of the indians, the last thing I'd want to do would be offend them

Don't have a link off the top of my head, from what I recall, people go to Alaska and pay 60 000 to kill one, with comercial hunting law changes that were brought into effect by the previous President

Rusty ice picks, that is.

The term Indian doesn't really count for Canadian aboriginals due to the fact that the term Indian was coined due to Columbus and mates thought they'd found INDIA rather than America.

Surely you knew that Kate.

SM,

Indian was the term for native peoples of the whole continent. That's why it's north America. After Amerigo Vespucci, the first guy to spot land from the Santa Maria, as I recall. There was no USA or Canada back then, so Indian was the name for all native peoples on the continent. It doesn't make sense to pretend that Columbus was only coining the term to apply to natives from a country that did not yet exist

So you didn't complete high school. Not unexpected.

Jesus, another one...

I'm pretty sure if Columbus had landed a little further up, he still would've called them Indians...he (well, the Vikings, really) discovered one big land mass, not just the "U.S."

Technically it was the British and French who got Canada (who use the term aboriginal for indigenous peoples). But you keep using an antiquated term in an incorrect manner.

Vespucchi wasn't on the Santa Maria...

anyways
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10687...arp-seals.htmlLowest amount of sea ice in 30 years coinciding with the birthing season of Harp Seal mothers could cause the loss of a huge number of pups before the hunt even starts.

Wherever he was, I don't really care. Columbus was a bastard who does not deserve his own holiday

I know who Vespucci was and the fact that the USA did not exist when Columbus coined the term indians

I've proven my point, regardless of whether or not I got Vespucci's ship wrong

Fuck off Ryan. Next, you'll tell Kate the moon doesn't have acne.

It's not antiquated. Plenty of indians refer to themselves that way. Some find Native American offensive.

The moon is made of cheese.

PK's mutant ability to derail threads flares up yet again.

It's not like it's a thread someone will miss.

Oh give me a break... I posted ONLY about seal hunting untill people decided to derail over my use of the word "indian"


It's completely absurd to say that *I* derailed

You actually posted over and over again over your internal debate about who you should vote for. You actually considered Sarah Palin as the US president, as McCain could die any second. That makes you stupid. Profoundly so. There's no argument you can make for that.

As for the seal hunt, you did the exact same shit PETA does. As for the hunt itself, the mean of killing is horrific, but beside that, how is it different than any organized hunt?