4 - Wednesday, March 16, 1994 - North Shore News

Slaug!

THE LAST time I was out
on the ice floes off the east
coast of Canada, carnage
reigned.

That was back in 1977. As we
approached the site of the annual
seal pup slaughter in our Bell
Jetranger helicopter, it was casy to
tell where to go: there was a streak
of blood that went literally from
horizon to horizon, left on either
side of the break in the floes opened
by the passage of a sealing ship.

After the seals were killed and
skinned. the pelts were winched
aboard, leaving broad, stark brush-
strokes of blood on the ice.

Sonicone in our chopper
remarked with deep gloom and dis-
gust: “So this is what they mean by
a mass slaughter.”

When we landed it had to be a

mile away from where the icebreak..

er was grinding slowly forward,
with dozens of men fanning out
ahead of it, methodically bashing
seal pups, flipping them over, and
slashing their bellies open while
their mothers bronked helplessly.

During the trek across the mile
of ice, 1 stepped through a break in
the ice and got soaked up to my
thigh in icy Atlantic water.

The reason for not landing clos-
er was a stupendously Orwellian

Order-in-Council ruling called the
Seal Protection Regulations, which
forbade anyone to kind any closer
to the seals unless they were there
to kill them.

That ruling was eventually
thrown out by the Supreme Court
of Canada as being unconstitution-
al, but it served its purpose at the
time, which was to make it difficult
-— nearly impossible, in fact --- for
us Goublemakers to interfere with
the so-called hunt.

“So-called.” Usay, because the
seal pups themselves couldnt move
any faster than a wind-up toy. and
to bash the skull of a newborn crea-
lure no bigger, or any more capable
of defending itself, than a pillow.
makes a mockery of the word
“hunt.”

It took nearly two decades of
protests, but the killing of Harp seal
pups was finally outhiwed in 1988,
not because the Canadian govern-
ment had developed any scruples.
but because of a ban on the import
of seal pup pelts by the European
Community, which resulted in the
collapse of the market.

It was a precedent-setting event
which has come back to haunt
B.C.'s forest industry, as evidenced
by the decision of U.K.-based Scott
Ltd. to cancel $5.4 million worth of

- pulp contracts because of

eee mma
STRICTLY PERSONAL

MacMillan Bloedel’s barbaric
clearculting practises, now receiv-
ing the same kind of attention in
Europe as the seal hunt used to.

Actually, the seal hunt is back in
the news. This time it’s because the
Canadian government is trying, sur-
replitiously, 10 create a new marker
in Asia.

Bureaucrats and entrepreneurs
involved in the scheme are trying
hard to pretend that they only want
to sell the pelts of older seals to
China, but they are, in fact, secretly

NOTICE ¢ OF ¢ PUBLIC

iter and rebirth on our ice

trying to export seat penis bones for
sale as an aphrodisiac.

The first sale of seal parts to
China is due to be completed within
the next month or so. which, of
course, is why | was once again ina
helicopter, thts time usa guest of
the International Fund for Animal
Welfare. heading ouCacross the ice
foes, thong with a score of other
journalists, mainly from Europe,
and a delegation of parliamenturi-
ans from tuly, France, Russia and
Japan.

This time, instead of beating our
way across sky high above the ice
foes of The Front, as the area of f
the coust of Labrador and
Newfoundland is called, we were
en route from Charlottetown, PLE...
heading 100 miles north to an area
just west of the Magdalen Islands in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

And this time, there was no hori- -

zon-to-herizon highway of blood
on the ice to guide us. «

It wasn’t quite a journey to par-
adise regained, because a slaughter
of older seals still goes on, despite
the lack of markets and the threat of
a vastly expanded hunt for penis
bones hangs over the immediate
future of the seals. But it was still,
for me, an emotional moment when
the seals finally came into view
below.

4 HEARING

OCS

There was blood on the ice, to
be sure, but it was strictly the blood
left over foom the miracle of birth.

Otherwise. the spectacle, as we
same down for it landing, was as
magaificent and profoundly moving
us Fused to dream it might be ance
the hordes of hunters with their
bakapiks had been banished.

For a few minutes after the
chopper blades stopped rotating,
there was a ringing silence.

The mothers, for the most part,
had flopped into the water as we
came thundering down out of te
sky. but they quickly clambered
back onto the ice and wiggled over
to their pups, touching noses to
make sure afl was well,

Then, reassured, they calmly
tolled over on their sides, offering
their nipples to the white-coated
newborns, who began nursing with
complete indifference towards the
gaggle of camera-bedecked humans
picking their way gingerly across
the ice from the choppers.

Instead of wielding clubs and
hakapiks, the invaders were aiming
their lens, checking their light
meters, celebrating life instead of
snuffing it out. A golden moment
instead of a holocaust. And, where-
as | had been ashamed of my
species when I was out here before,
this time I was actually proud. -

' Public Hearing will be held on MONDAY, March 21, 1994, at 7:30 p.m., in the Council Chamber, City Hall, 141 West 14th Street, North
Vancouver, B.C., to receive representations in connection with the following proposed amendments to:

i "Zoning Bylaw, 1967", also known as Bylaw No. 3778, and the "Zoning Map of

the City of North Vancouver", which is an integral part of Bylaw No. 3778.

ih}

on the map below).

TO:

LIZ
sta tetatets

9

SES
rocegeney
otesece,

MAHON AVENUE

To rezone the Lots C and B, Block 29, D.L. 548, Resub
9711, located at 1628 and 1632 Mahon Avenue {

° . FROM: RS (ONE - FAMILY RESIDENTIAI. ZONE)
i CD -263 (COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT 263 ZONE)

To permit the development of four 3-bedroom units on the site.

LLL FOL

WEST 17TH STREET

OO TE
ROCKO
= 4
CBE

CHESTERFIELD AVE

WEST 16TH STREET - :

RSH

APPLICANT: DECOTHS / MARTIN

LL PERSONS who believe that their interest in properties is affected by the above proposed Bylaws shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity
to be heard - in person, by attorney or petition. The proposed Bylaws and relevant background documents may be inspected at the office of the
City Clerk between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday, from March 7- March 21, 199+, except Statutory Holidays, Written
submissions will be accepted up to and including March 21, 1994, but submissions will NOT be accepted after the conclusion of the Public

Hearing. NOTICE of this Public Hearing is pursuant to Section 957 of the Municipal Act of British Columbia.“

2,3, & 4, Plans 957 and
as indicated in hatched pattern

Al

"Zoning Bylaw, 1967", also known as Bylaw No. 3778.

To amend the text of "Zoning Bylaw, 1967", also known as Bylaw 3778, as it
pertains to Comprehensive Development 251 Zone, ("Zoning Bylaw, 1967,

Amendment Bylaw, 199+, No. 6457"), Lots D, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, Block 115,
D.L. 274, Plan 14388 & 878; and Strata Lots | & 2, VR 504, located at 257 East

Keith road, (as indicated in hatched pattern on the map below). The amending

bylaw. will permit windows in habitable rooms 3.5 meters (10 feet) from facing

building walls.%

APPLICANT: BRODY / CROCKART

Bruce Hawkshaw, City Clerk