A2 - Sunday, March 21, 1982 - North Shore News

In a desperate attempt to
make light of the matter,
Fisheries Minister Romeo
LeBlanc tried to joke in
Ottawa recently that “there
are people who think wheat
has a soul,” meaning that the
opponents of the hunt are a
bunch of crazed pantheists.

I'd like to throw that one
back in Mr. LeBlanc's face.

Anybody who has ever
actually witnessed the seal

hunt — without doubt the
most savage, pitiless
“harvest” in the world —

would feel entitled to ask the
question, “Does Romeo
LeBlanc have a soul?”

And of course, in Europe
and America and Asia and
Africa the question is, “Does
Canada have a soul?”

strictly personal

by Bob Hunter

ealing our fate

WITH THE OVERWHELMING vote by the
European Economic Community in favor of a ban
on imports of seal skins, the tide has finally begun
to turn against the sealing industry.

That EEC vote was a
sweet victory for the broad
(often fractious) coalition of
groups, starting with Brian
Davies’ International Fund
for Animals, which have
opposed the slaughter for
almost 20 years.

Most conservawuionis(s
have understood for a long
time that because of
Canada’s peculiar political
composition — all the
national parties wanting the
Newfie vote — the only way
the annual mass butchery of
pups could be stopped was
by isolating Canada from
world opinion.

It has worked beautifully.

Believe me. you can go
almost anywhere in the

world, today, mention you
are from Canada, and the
subliminal reaction you get
is: “Yuk, a seal-killer.”

It will probably take at
least a generation after the
slaughter ends for Canada’s
image and reputation on
Planet Earth to begin to
mend. Quite senously, very
few Canadians appreciate
just how much damage has
been done.

As one of the people
involved along the way tn the
struggle to bring the seal
“hunt” to an end, I can only
say that it is a tragedy that
Canada's good name had to
be bludgeoned to a bloody
pulp in the eyes of the world,
but there was no other way.

Internally, — that iis,
quietly, without exposing
our dirty laundry in_ the
international arena — 1t was
impossible to get either
Ottawa or St. John's or the

Fire HQ expansion gets nod

FIREFIGHTERS in North
Vancouver District will get
their Lynn Valley head-
quarters expanded soon.

Distnict council approved
the low tender of $380,825
for the expansion at Mon-
day's council meeting.

The addition, already scal-
ed down from the orginal
plan introduced last year. ts
sull $143,825 over the fire
department's budget — a

“INCHES AWAY

shortfall that will have to be
made up by the Distnct.

But council members said
they were satisfied all the fat
had been trimmed from the
proposal and that the cost
was as low as it Could get

The addition will include a

single apparatus bay to
house a mini-pumper, office
space and a new alarm

room. A proposed parking
structure, which would cost

an extra $79,000, won't pro-
ceed unless council feels it
can find the money in its
1982 budget.

Prosseger Construction’s
onginal bid was trimmed by
$54,000 by leaving out a
basement area under the ap-
paratus bay, office skylights
and other items, said Fire
Chief Bob McDonald in a
report.

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Norwegian interests who
make the real profit out of
the seal kill to consider
changing their ways.

Only when Canada's
image abroad had _ been
clubbed, skinned and left
twitching on the  blood-
stained TV screens of the
world could there be any
hope that enough pressure
would begin to build in-
ternationally to force
Canada to enter the 20th
Century from the humane
point of view.

The battle isn't over yet.
In fact, 1t will probably go on
now forever. It will have to.

The atavistic forces which
compelled the slaughter into
existence in the first place
aren't just going to go away.
They are such basic flaws as
vanity, greed, political
expediency, and, yes, a
certain blood-lust.

But who knows? Someday

the infamous Seal Protec-
tions Regulations might
actually live up to their

name. Especially after this
year's vote at the EEC, there
is definite hope.

On that note. here is
another piece of good news:
I gota call from Paul Watson
in Honolulu recently. He
had been preparing to take
his vessel: Sea Shepherd I],
to Japan's Iki Island to
prevent the dolphin
slaughter this month.

At the last minute, he says
he got a call from the

Japanese Consulate telling
him the government has
decided to order that the

slaughter be stopped.

At the highest levels in
Japan. nobody wanted - at
this delicate economic

®

How is
your
marriage?
watch

moment in time — to hght a
bloody skirmish in front of
the world’s cameras over the
massacre of dolphins by
Japanese fishermen.

The Japanese are smart,
you see. Romeo LeBlanc
and the Canadian and
Newfie governments, they're
not so smart.

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