Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

Canadians are not slaughtering 23,000 dolphins and porpoises each year, as the Japanese do in Taiji [“Taiji’s terrible secret cove”, August 13-20]. But I found it paradoxical that the only reference Charlie Smith made to Canada’s seal hunt in his article about the documentary The Cove was to say that while news crews are prevented from filming the dolphin killings, Canada’s seal hunt is “broadcast to the world”.

I fail to see how the Canadian massacre (to steal language from Smith’s article) of hundreds of thousands of seals to feed an international demand for pelts is nobler than killing dolphins to feed a national demand for whale meat. Both are shameful uses of marine mammals, but it seems the Straight—and probably Canada as a whole—would prefer to focus on the shame Japan should feel for its killings.

Maybe someday Japan will make a film on the seal hunt and run cover stories titled “Canada’s Shame”. Maybe then Canada will lay down its clubs and withdraw its recent WTO complaint about the recent EU ban on seal products.

> Jennifer Jacquet / Vancouver

Comments

3 Comments

Warzaw

Aug 24, 2009 at 3:56pm

@Jennifer Jacquet
Since meat and fur are very well accepted and legal in the world, I think you will find you are in the minority if you find them something to be ashamed of. What I find shameful is your smug hypocrisy and that of the Europeans you think we should bend over for. Maybe somebody should make a film about that?

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Tokyo

Aug 27, 2009 at 6:08pm

Warzaw... you're completely missing Jennifer's point. She's talking about the hypocrisy of running stories titles "Japan's Shame" when the same bloody thing is happening in Canada.

Warzaw

Aug 29, 2009 at 8:25pm

Tokyo...I don't think I am missing anything.
I don't see Jennifer offering up the BC cattle industry to placate European extremists. Or inviting film crews into BC slaughterhouses for an exposé.

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