One good
ban deserves another; Liberal MP calling for embargo of
German deer and boar
In a battle of squeakers and beaters, Liberal MP Scott
Simms says countries that live in glass houses shouldn't
throw stones.
In
the wake of a proposed German ban on the import of seal
products, the Liberal Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor
MP is planning to bring a similar motion to the floor
of the Canadian House of Commons. His motion, based on
principle moreso than economics, will call for a ban on
the import of, and trade in, wild venison and wild boar
products from Germany.
"Time
and time again we dispel all these myths being put out
there by animal rights groups, and yet, we still face
these stupid resolutions and motions that basically play
right into those myths," Simms told
The Telegram Tuesday.
Simms
has been considering the motion since the issue first
arose in Germany last fall. However, earlier this week,
Germany's agriculture minister, Horst Seehofer, announced
plans to introduce a bill to prohibit the import of all
seal products. Animal rights groups are already heralding
Seehofer's move as a major victory that could cost the
Canadian seal industry about $2 million per year. On the
flip-side, numbers released by the provincial government
indicate that 1.2 million deer and over 500,000 wild boars
are hunted in Germany annually. Simms' resolution indicates
that the animals are "cruelly slaughtered every year
in Germany" and that most of the animals are killed
for sport and to provide 'traditional delicacies' for
the local market. "That doesn't sound like full utilization
of the species to me," Simms said, noting that many
of the boar taken are babies, commonly referred to as
squeakers, that are not yet weaned from their mothers;
many of the deer taken are fallow deer, which Simms said
is "pretty much like killing Bambi."
His motion states that desire to manufacture traditional
lederhosen from the hides of deer and boar is not an acceptable
rationale for the ongoing hunt, and that lederhosen can
easily be made from synthetic material. "Canada must
take all available measures that may contribute to the
widest possible curtailing of wild deer and boar hunting
for such frivolous purposes," Simms' motion states.
In addition, Simms charges that the hunt of boar and deer
in Germany runs counter to good conservation practices,
given shrinking habitat and the effects of climate change.
He also pointed out that the hunts are done under slack
licensing controls, with no training requirements for
hunters. "Our seal harvest is a professional harvest
done under monitored conditions. When they slaughter deer
and boar, is that monitored?" Simms asked.
Fisheries
Department spokesman Phil Jenkins told The Canadian Press
that the German Bundestag has yet to see any legislation,
and Germany remains out of step with the rest of the European
Union. He said the European Commission decided last month
that Canada's current legislation adequately protects
young seals.
Simms
targets the federal Foreign Affairs Department for not
being active enough in Europe with respect to the seal
issue. He said evidence of government's lack of commitment
on the matter can be found in a September 2006 decision
to cut the foreign diplomacy budget - a budget that picks
up the tab for Canadian officials travelling to foreign
nations on matters of relations and trade. "I don't
think our Foreign Affairs Department is doing a good enough
job getting the message out on the seal hunt. I want to
see them run with this and I challenge them to do so,"
Simms said, insisting that he is tired of Canada being
the favourite target when it comes to seal hunting. "There
are two members of the EU that kill whitecoats and that
would be Russia and Norway, but it seems like Canada is
always the whipping boy," he said. "If the German
parliamentarians think I'm wrong, and if the minister
of agriculture thinks I'm wrong, then come to Canada and
tell me I'm wrong - and when he comes to Canada, he can
meet me in Twillingate."
Simms
said he also plans to send copies of his motion to contacts
in Europe. "Politicians in Europe are using this
for their own political reasons," he said. "I
plan to send a copy of this motion to places I know in
Europe to let them know we are serious about this, and
that they should be, too. "Have we played nice for
too long now? It seems like it. So I'm putting the motion
to the House and if Foreign Affairs doesn't like it, well,
they'll just have to deal with it."
