Evidence of meeting #35 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was inuit.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Robin Anawak Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Greetings to all members of the committee. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans for providing Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami the opportunity to speak here today on the issue of sealing.
My name is Robin Anawak, and I work at ITK in—
Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Okay. It's my first time here, so—
Conservative
Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Okay, thank you.
I work at ITK in the environment department, largely on policy matters relating to wildlife as they affect Inuit in Canada.
I wish to express regrets today from our president, Ms. Mary Simon, who is unable to be here today as her very busy schedule did not make her presence here possible. As you mentioned, Rosemary Cooper, our political coordinator, is here as well.
To give a brief background on our organization, ITK was founded in 1971 and represents Inuit in Canada on issues and concerns of a national nature. Since its establishment some 36 years ago, ITK has continued to act as an advocate for Inuit and to provide an organized forum through which Inuit can press and raise issues of most pertinence at any given time.
From the early formation and negotiation of Inuit land claims to constitutional recognition and inclusion of Inuit to push for a greater role and place in Canada's social, economic, and political fabric, ITK endeavours to continue its tradition of representing Inuit, both those living in arctic regions as well as those in southern urban centres.
ITK works closely with and receives its governance and guidance from the four Inuit land claim groups, which in turn represent their land claim beneficiaries in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut—from which our Inuit colleagues are here—Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut.
Our organization is also closely associated with the Inuit Circumpolar Council on the international level and with the national Inuit Youth Council on issues most pertinent to Inuit youth in Canada.
I'd like to recognize that the vice-president of the National Inuit Youth Council is here among the students. One of her responsibilities also includes the environment portfolio. It's a good group here.
As part of its work, ITK also works with various departments, officials, and ministers of the federal government, with territorial and provincial counterparts, as well as with other national aboriginal organizations and leaders.
I would like now to speak about sealing issues within an Inuit context and within the context of concerns that ITK has become familiar with, especially in regard to seal import bans that are being pushed for in nation states within the European Union and in the European Union as a whole.
Inuit are wildlife harvesters. Inuit are traditionally subsistence consumers and users of various marine mammals that are native to arctic and northern Atlantic waters. These mammals are also, if you will, native to Inuit culture, or perhaps vice versa.
Marine mammals are well-respected, highly valued, and are still to this day much needed and sought after by Inuit across the north. Marine mammals form an important part of Inuit nutrition and diet that comes from generations of living off the land and sea. Despite changes in today's world, the importance of marine mammals to Inuit remains as true as it ever was: as a food source, a cultural source, a knowledge source, a spiritual and inspirational source, and a livelihood source.
The marine mammals of which I speak include narwhal, beluga whale, bowhead whale, walrus, polar bear, and different species of seals, such as the bearded seal, harp seal, and ringed seal.
If you ask Inuit what seal they hunt, consume, and use the most, they are most likely to tell you that it is the ringed seal. The taste is much better. That and its all-purpose uses are certainly reasons for this, including the observed understanding that it's the most abundant seal species in the waters of the Arctic and northern Canada. Estimates from Nunavut alone indicate that the ringed seal population is likely in the area of two million. Considering that the population of Nunavut is around 30,000, it's a pretty substantial population.
In combination with subsistence harvesting, Inuit also utilize a part of their catch for trade in pelts and for use in arts, crafts, and clothes making and design—which you can see all around you: there is a lot of beautiful sealskin clothing here. These are considered positive, supportive, and sustainable incentives for community livelihoods. This is important to us.
Whether we talk in terms of culture, tradition, knowledge, history, values, ethics, or modern practice, Inuit have not hunted and do not hunt their food and resource supply to depletion, or to a level that would be considered irreversible to the species population, or, as we would say today, to levels of “unsustainability”. We just can't afford to do it. If this were our tradition, we would not be around long enough to call it a tradition or to tell others today of such a tradition.
I have learned and heard much of my own culture about the lessons and values of harvesting and use of our sources of life, such as to respect wildlife, to avoid unnecessary suffering of the animal, to utilize the animal and its different parts as much as possible, to take as much as is needed but not to take out of whim and waste, and to hunt responsibly with expertise and knowledge.
Inuit continue to harvest seals on a year-round basis well below the sustainable yields of estimated seal populations. Inuit know this by their own traditional knowledge, accumulated over time and through continued harvesting and use of the species. It offers a seamless observation of conditions in the environment, whether it's over a period of a year or a decade or is generation upon generation. These culture-based parameters are still applicable when Inuit use modern tools such as snowmobiles and rifles. There are, at times, greater distances to travel, more fuel that is required with increased prices, costs of maintenance and repair, ammunition to purchase, and so forth. There is also the fact of an increased population of people who do still need country food from the land and the sea.
What is important to note in this instance is that the Inuit subsistence diet is not solely dependent on seal, but also on other marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species, so while we are focused on the discussion of the seal here today, the seal itself is only one among a number of very important food and livelihood sources for Inuit. I think the context that is important to get across to the committee here is that the issue of seals and sealing for Inuit is part of a larger holistic view of our way of life. The seal is one irreplaceable part of our perspective; we are here today to talk about our connection to it as a marine mammal and as a link to our way of life, both in traditional and in modern terms. If it were about other important species such as walrus, caribou, or polar bears, we would no doubt be here to do the same.
In relation to the seal ban issues, Inuit have stated their concerns time and again about the threat posed to Inuit interests by bans and arbitrary trade restrictions on seal products. The actions taken by the anti-sealing lobby to try to get bans established on seal imports in Europe aim to end seal hunting altogether and are not intended to better manage or improve the sustainable practices of harvesters. We see this as a slippery slope, whereby the demise of one hunt will lead to the demise of another: the Inuit hunt.
Inuit are involved in the management and co-management process when it comes to wildlife. Our land claims agreements and established regimes ensure that conservation, harvesting, and subsistence are realities that must go hand in hand on an ongoing basis. We have federal, provincial, and territorial regulations, processes, and regimes that are intended to respond to a situation such that if and when needed, a species is addressed by parties should the species face a decline to unsustainable levels for one reason or another. These processes include the input of Inuit communities as parties to agreements and holders of their rights in Canada.
We are also involved internationally with the IUCN, an international organization I'm sure many of you are familiar with. I'd like to point out that in Amman, Jordan, in 2000, the IUCN passed a resolution, resolution 2.92. I'll read out some important parts here. This resolution of the World Conservation Congress
urges all national governments, without prejudice to their obligations under international law, to put their sustainable use principles into action in order to improve the viability of indigenous and local communities, which depend on the harvesting of renewable resources, by eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers which discourage the sustainable use of natural products derived from non-endangered species.
Many of the European states that are considering a seal ban are party to the IUCN. So you can imagine that we're a little bit puzzled, considering the IUCN is urging responsible and sustainable use of seals and other populations when applicable.
I would also like to cite IUCN resolution number 3.092, from the 2004 conference in Bangkok. The resolution
urges in particular IUCN members to put their sustainable use principles into action by not introducing new legislation that bans the importation and commercialization of seal products stemming from abundant seal populations, provided that obligations and requirements under other international conventions such as the [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species] are met.
Inuit participation in these international forums proves that we do not operate in isolation. We are involved in regional, territorial, national, and international discussions governing the sustainable use of seals.
We are also taking the lead in the international humane trapping standards processes, primarily because we respect animals and understand that no animal should have to suffer unnecessarily.
Another threat seen by Inuit regarding arbitrary import bans is one where the economic and trade component of Inuit livelihood becomes undermined, if not by a direct ban, then by a wider propagandized bias against any seal product. In other words, a culture and products traded by the culture gets a maliciously intended dose of bad publicity by others who have an ideological or for that matter a financial objective in mind for their own interests, with the intended result of undermining another interest within a market environment.
For instance, if a country is convinced by lobbyists that any seal product is an unethical product and should not be purchased or imported, then I would think that Inuit seal products would rank the same. An attempt to put in an Inuit exemption, as was the case in the European Commission ban of 1983, would not be a guaranteed method of safeguarding Inuit economic and trade interests.
To this day, Inuit have never seen any proof or development, consulted or otherwise, of an exemption that would work in an Inuit seal product trade arrangement with countries in the European Union. We remain well guarded on this point and do not support any arbitrary trade bans on seal products, whether it's within a specific European trading country or European Union-wide.
If you'll bear with me—I'm almost done—I'd also like to cite the European Parliament's written declaration of May 2006. This declaration
considers that this regulation should not have an impact on traditional Inuit seal hunting which, however, only accounts for 3% of the current hunt.
This language is nice, and it is suggested that this regulation should not have an impact; however, there is no legislation or language in here to guarantee that it will not have an impact.
I'd like to thank this committee for hearing me. I'll hand it over to NTI.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gerald Keddy
Thank you very much.
I'll ask our next witness to speak.
Mr. Ningeocheak.
Martha Flaherty Interpreter, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
He wants to know if we can do simultaneous interpreting, because it's going to take too long if it's consecutive. He wants to know if it's okay.
Interpreter, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
He does not like speaking and stopping in between; he's used to using simultaneous interpreters, which we usually do. We don't have that here today, so he'll do it consecutively.
Raymond Ningeocheak Second Vice-President, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
Thank you very much for inviting us here, for recognizing my letter and bringing us here. I really appreciate that.
First of all, I'd like to welcome the Inuit Sivuniksavut students who are all here. They have been our big supporters when we're dealing with the seal issues. A lot of them are from coastal areas, and it's great that they can come here and actually show you what our issues are by bringing what they're wearing.
I shall proceed.
I'm quite tired, because I've been travelling for 15 hours because of the weather. I had to take another route. So I'm not exactly at my best.
Second Vice-President, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
So I will be happy if you could let me finish what I have to present.
Just to add to Robin's presentation, for thousands of years, Inuit and seals have had a special relationship. Seals feed Inuit and help keep our dogs alive. We use their skins as clothing.
I myself am 65 years old and I have lived by surviving on the land, so I know what I'm talking about.
Oil and seal fat keep Inuit warm and light our dwellings. We also use seal bones and seal fur for arts and crafts. I know, because I've lived through this kind of life in our communities.
As part of Canadian society, we go to the Canadian government for your support to keep our livelihood going. It's the way we've always lived. We depend on sealing for our economy, and we appeal to you as our government to support us to keep this activity going.
Speaking from my own experience as an Inuit hunter who has hunted and lived by eating and living on seal, if it weren't for the seal that brought me up to this day, I would not be speaking to you today. Otherwise, I would not have really bothered to travel all this way here, to come to this committee meeting, but I feel that when we talk about banning the seal hunt, it affects my livelihood very much and the livelihood of the Inuit. It means a lot to me, so I am here to appeal to you today.
Seals are very nutritious and very important in the Inuit diet, in the past and also in the present, today. It is a very important source of vitamins, proteins, and minerals for our diet. In the olden days, Inuit lived on seal meat, as well as our dogs, which we fed, and the Inuit and their dog teams co-existed. We did that because we relied on seal meat for our nutrition. It is one of the best meat products that you can get from the land.
The skin, which is a byproduct, now has added value for the hunter because we can sell the seals on the market. I myself also have experience. In 1965 I bought myself a Ski-Doo just from sealskins. The selling of the skins from the hunt means the ability to purchase gas, ammunition, oil, parts for my snowmobile, and other items for my family. For these real reasons, the seal is most sought after, all year round.
Good jobs are limited in Nunavut, especially in the smaller communities, and the unemployment rate is very high. Unless a person has a high school education or post-secondary education, it is very difficult to find a good job. For myself, in my age group, that is so true. A lot of us didn't have a chance to be educated, so we're sort of left out. Education is the answer these days. If you have education, you have more chance of getting jobs. For our age group, that doesn't work.
Hunting continues to be an important part of the economy of the Inuit society, and it helps to offset the high cost of living in the north. This is so true for hunters at this time. Hunting is a costly subsistence activity, with few economic opportunities. Hunting allows us to be independent as a people. However, when you have a weak sealskin market, it forces Inuit to rely on social assistance, which takes away the Inuit pride.
With the world market of oil and gasoline going through the roof today, Nunavut is heavily affected, more than any other region. There are no road links to the south. If we had a road, it would reduce the high cost of transportation, but we don't have roads. The cost of living is much higher in the north than anywhere else in Canada.
Last year, over 6,000 raw sealskins were exported from Nunavut. This amounts to $530,000 in income for Inuit hunters in Nunavut alone.
When I was talking about the price of sealskins, the generated income for the Inuit seal hunters in Nunavut, I was referring to raw sealskins only, not the garments that you see the students wearing.
I also wanted to show you my hunting gear that I have worn for most of my life. They're all made out of sealskin products, traditionally tanned so that they're waterproof.
I have shown you my boot liners, which are waterproof, and two pairs of mitts. The gauntlets with the high tops I use when I'm building an igloo. With those, snow doesn't go into your arms. The shorter cuffs, the mittens that I showed you, are for butchering caribou or when I'm working around camp. These I use for my work when I go out hunting, when I'm out on the land. This is some of our survival hunting gear today, and we rely on those. I also have a pair of pants and a parka, which are also waterproof, that I use when I go hunting.
When we talk about clothing and the sealskins that we rely on for our traditional warm clothes when we're out hunting, I'm not talking about the pretty jackets and coats that you see around this building today. I'm talking about the functional hunting gear that has also kept us warm.
The value I was talking about does not reflect the added value earned by making the skins into garments worn by the students here in the audience. This industry generates millions of dollars and is starting to bring back the independence that Inuit once knew.
Unfortunately, animal rights activists have brought negative emotions to this issue. During the 1980s, anti-fur and animal rights activists lobbied primarily in Europe against the harp seal hunt taking place on the east coast, and it resulted in a European ban on young harp seal products in 1983.
The anti-fur and animal rights activity devastated the seal industry in Nunavut for Inuit. Inuit experienced a significant loss in income and could not finance their harvesting activities. This gave rise to a number of social problems that we still live with today. Whenever we've had animal rights groups lobbying in Ottawa, we have been very fortunate to have the Nunavut Sivuniksavut students lobbying on our behalf and speaking out for the Inuit.
The hunting of seals has been portrayed by animal rights activists as inhumane, but this is not true. How Inuit kill seals is to use all the parts of the seal for food, clothing, and other products. Inuit have always been very much into conservation, taking what they needed and not exceeding what their needs are.
The killing of seals appears, as portrayed by the activists, to be perceived in a different light than the slaughter of domestic livestock, but it is not different.
Mr. Chairman, please understand that Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and the Government of Nunavut are working on policy in the sealing industry in Nunavut. Their key principles are the following four points.
Number one, the harvest must be sustainable. The resource must be protected from overharvesting and managed with a view to maintaining the place of seals within the ecosystem, which also includes good management of seals and seal hunting.
Number two, the whole animal must be used. All parts of the seal have a specific use and all of it should be utilized.
Number three, the harvest must be humane. All kills must be done cleanly and quickly.
Number four, the safety of the hunter must be taken into account.
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is involved with the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission's specific committees in providing a comprehensive look at the information on ringed seal populations and harvest statistics.
The seal hunt in Nunavut is very sustainable. There are more than two million ringed seals in Nunavut. It is estimated that about 80,000 animals are harvested annually. It is lower than historical harvesting numbers.
Ringed seals are distributed across the north and do not migrate south. Ringed seals have never been endangered, and Inuit do not have any concerns about the seal population. Inuit have never depleted the stock.
Regarding the climate that is changing, we are beginning to notice that the ice formation now is changing, and therefore it changes the behaviour of the seals. This winter alone, there are places where we normally had seals, but because the ice has been very slow to change in that area, we notice that they have moved to another area. That's something that we also have to keep in mind, that the population is flexible and it does migrate. It moves around.
To Inuit, seal hunting means fresh, healthy meat on the table. It means an earned income. It re-establishes the pride of hunters. It means new mitts, new boots, a new parka, among other things that we survive by.
We are pleased that the price of seal has gone up slightly, and it gives us hope that it may be sustainable for us to hunt seal again. When we talk about hunting seal for the skin, I want to reassure you that we do eat the meat. We do use the bones and all parts of the seal for other things as well. We're not just killing it for the seal skin to sell. We do conserve, and because the price of seal skin is going up, it doesn't mean that Inuit will go out and hunt double what they're killing now for their own sustenance. We believe in good management, and we have never overkilled because the price was right.
Lastly, Mr. Chairperson, I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk to the committee. As Canadians we believe that the Canadian government will listen to our concerns, attempt to get to know our culture—the way we live—and come to appreciate us as a people living in Canada.
Also, Mr. Chairperson, I invite you to come north to see how the rest of Canada lives. You are most welcome to visit Nunavut.
When you come to the northern part of Canada you will see that we are a different people, separate from other Canadians. We live differently; we have our own language and our own culture; we live in a different geographic region than you do. We also hunt differently from what you perceive seal hunting to be. We do not use clubs when we hunt seals. Nowadays we have rifles, and sometimes we use the traditional harpoon to hunt seals.
Again, you are welcome to come to Nunavut to visit with us. We'll be very happy to help you out with some of the questions you may have about Inuit and seals.
These boots I am showing you are tanned sealskin waterproof “kamiks”, as we call them. In fact, they are really too hot to wear in this building right now.
Any questions you may have are welcome.
Thank you very much.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gerald Keddy
Thank you.
We appreciate our witnesses appearing. We realize you came a long way. We very much appreciate and understand your message.
I expect some of the students may find it a bit warm in some of those fur coats as well.
Speaking as chair of the committee, I find it reassuring—and I'm sure our questioners will bring a number of these points up—that you understand the “divide and conquer” plan of the Europeans, of the non-governmental officials and the humane groups around the world, who very much would like to separate all seal hunters into separate components and, once they're divided, conquer them all. There's no such thing as an exemption for aboriginal peoples or Inuit peoples. That's not the intent. The intent is to stop sealing.
It's unfortunate that some of these individuals have no understanding of living off the land. They've never hunted, they've never fished, and they have no understanding.
I've been in the high north, in the eastern Arctic, many times. It's a beautiful area, and I would be more than pleased to come again. I would expect to have some ringed seal when I get there. The grey seals that we eat off southwestern Nova Scotia are okay, but they're not nearly as tasty as the ringed seal; it's much better.
We'll go to our first questioner, Mr. Simms.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to our guests. Welcome to all guests, as a matter of fact. I've never seen such a big turnout for a committee. It's not bad, eh?
I would like to say, in addition to what you have said, that all parties here—and I hate to speak on behalf of other parties, but I think I'd be safe in saying this—are really unified on this issue. Past governments, the current government, as well as future governments: we've all been as one.
My colleague Mr. Blais and I have been to Europe. We've talked to the animal rights groups. We talked to the politicians over there. We made our case and put it forward. I think what is necessary is for you as well to go to Europe, because when they start talking about things like exemptions, we look at it as just a passing glance, a politically correct thing to say, without any heed to the fact that you have a harvest as well—a commercial, viable harvest—just like many other jurisdictions around the globe.
That being said, I have a few questions concerning Mr. Anawak. Earlier, you mentioned exemptions for traditional hunt. I want you to touch on that again. I'm assuming from what you have said that you have disdain for it. You find it, I guess, as I do, in a sense not really legitimate.
How would the ban on importation of seal products affect you?
Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
I'll speak to this briefly, and then I'd like to hand it over to my colleagues. In the 1983 sealskin ban that Europe implemented, there was an exemption. There was an exemption that said that Inuit products that were traditionally harvested were exempted and would be allowed to be traded with Europe.
That's nice and dandy, but unfortunately, as soon as the ban was in place the price of sealskins fell—this was 1983, so I can't speak to it from personal experience—quite dramatically. So even though there was the exemption in place, seal hunters could not support the modern methods of hunting because they could not fetch the prices for their sealskins that they could before the ban.
I would hand it over to them, because I was a year old in 1983.
Gabriel Nirlungayuq Director, Wildlife Department, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thanks for that question. Yes, we have been told that we're an unintentional victim, but that's not true. It is an intent for people who hunt; whether it's on the east coast or the north coast, it's an intent all together. Unfortunately, animal rights people have used that term, that we won't be touched, but we will be; we know that.
As a matter of fact, last year the Government of Nunavut and NTI, when the Greenland Home Rule Government attempted to stop the market exportation, went to the Greenland Home Rule Government asking them the question, saying, if you ban seal products from the east coast, you're affecting us too.
So we realize this quite well.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
I want to touch on the IUCN. You talked about the memorandum that was signed, I think in Amman, Jordan—is that correct?
One interesting point we talk about is that this was an exemption for seal products that pertained to...who exactly?
Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
This was not an exemption. What I was referring to was a recognition by the IUCN that species that have sustainable, abundant populations should not be regulated or restricted in trade, because they are abundant. As long as there is management in place, the IUCN, in the specific passage I quoted, recognized that indigenous and local communities should be able to harvest species as long as they're abundant.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Was the United States of America a signatory to that?
Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
I couldn't tell you. They are IUCN members, and I believe this was a unanimous decision, but I cannot be certain. I can check on that and give you a written answer.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
That would be great, because I'm trying to get to the MMPA, which is the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the United States, which does not allow any importation.
What I've heard is that seal products are imported to the United States from Alaska. Is that true? Would you know that?
Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
I wouldn't assume it's imported, because Alaska is—
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Well, no, understood. Good point. But is it exported—I'm only using these terms because of the sheer distance of it—from Alaska down to the United States of America? Would you know that?
Researcher, Department of Environment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
I wouldn't know.