Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for the opportunity.
First of all, I want to apologize to the chair, my colleagues, and our visiting delegation from Europe for being late, but as parliamentarians you know that your schedule can get you tied up sometimes.
I want to let you know that we in the New Democratic Party, the smallest party in the House right now, fully support the commercialized seal hunt that comes off our east coast. We have supported that for many years. I want to show that we are unanimous as a committee, that we believe the seal hunt is humane and that it is done sustainably. We have always argued on this side, along with my colleagues, that the hunt should be sustainable, market-driven, and located where there are economic opportunities for people in the outports and, most importantly, for our first nations and Inuit populations. You may recall 1982, with Brigitte Bardot and the mass seal hunts. We had an estimated two million seals then, and they were complaining about the hunt then. And also the issues surrounding fur trapping and so on had a devastating effect on our first nations people.
The United States has something called the Marine Mammal Protection Act, under which they do not allow seal products to come in from Canada. They allow those products to come in from Alaska but not from us. There is a bit of an irritant there that we've been trying to work on for many years.
It is true, as my colleagues have said, that independent veterinarians have said time and time again, and I won't repeat it, that this is a humane kill. But the reality is that when you go to a slaughterhouse, go hunting for a moose or a deer, or put down a dog that's been hit by a car, it is not pretty and it is not nice, and cameras can make any image look deplorable.
To be completely frank with you, politically, for me and my party, if we really want to be honest, if we opposed the seal hunt, we would probably increase our votes because the vast majority of Canadians live in cities. As my colleague said, that's where the votes are. We could tell Newfoundland and Labrador to take a hike. In Nunavut there is one seat. Why would we even care? But the reality is, as my colleague Mr. Lunney from the west coast said, we need to show solidarity with our neighbours and brothers and sisters in Newfoundland and Labrador and throughout. This is an opportunity for employment.
I would encourage all of you, when you have the opportunity, to visit these communities, not during the seal hunt, but to visit these outports and first nations groups on your own and talk to them. Find out what they go through in their daily lives. Moving to other parts of the country is simply unacceptable.
I am somebody who was born in Holland, had to move from Holland in the fifties because of the closure of the coal mines, and who lives in Atlantic Canada. The vast majority of our young people move from Atlantic Canada to other parts for economic opportunities. Like my colleague Mr. Keddy, who is from the south shore, from my neighbouring riding, I don't like that. We like the opportunity--there is a resource that's healthy. We have an opportunity to utilize that resource as we do other fishing products in the ocean.
On the question of skinning alive, I can assure you that I've seen the seal hunt on many occasions and I have yet to witness one myself. Is this to say that it's never ever happened? No. It may have happened once or twice or several times. The reality is that if you put a whole bunch of hunters out there, there's bound to be one or two of them a camera will catch not doing it properly. Is that the image of the entire hunt? No.
First of all, I want very briefly to thank you for coming, hearing our points of view, and exchanging views. I know we'll have more time after lunch. I can assure you that politically the easiest thing to do would be to just stop the hunt. We'd win votes and we'd be happy campers. But the reality is that it will have a devastating effect on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we simply cannot allow that to happen. If you start with seals, then you'll move on to something else and something else again. This country was built on hunting, trapping, and utilizing of the resource.
There are many people out there who don't like the idea that we take animals or fish out of the natural environment for our own consumption. They simply don't like that. They don't like the idea of seeing somebody in a seal coat or a fur jacket. As someone who has lived in the Yukon for nine years, I know that is part of our tradition. When you visit the far north and you see the Inuit people and they see a National Geographic special and they see polar bears and walruses, they sit around their table and say, hmm, yum, yum, what's for lunch? Most Canadians look at that and say, oh, those are nice. They have no concept of what wildlife means in terms of consumption and basing country food in terms of their sustenance.
If we cancelled the seal hunt , that wouldn't just have a devastating effect on the outport communities on the east coast; it would also have a devastating effect on our Inuit people and our first nations people in this country. It wouldn't stop at the seals; it would go on to everything else.
We encourage you to have a pragmatic look at this. Don't necessarily take our word for it, but please go to the outports, go to the Inuit communities, and sit and talk to them. I think you'll find that very helpful in your deliberations.
Again, thank you so much, and I apologize for being tardy in my delivery here.