It has been going on, as members know, on both sides. I am not going to say that one is worse than the other, but it has been slipping into that.
It is a Canadian problem. I am speaking here tonight not only as a member of Parliament, but as president of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association. When we have gone to Europe, it has been with an all-party delegation, and all parties have supported the position every time we have gone. We recently went to Sweden. We have gone to France, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia. We have gone to Lisbon and Berlin. We have gone to all those countries that were president of the European Union, and Sweden is about to become one. At every one of those sessions, the topic of the seal hunt came up.
We had members from all parties. I am just going to mention a few.
One is a member from the Bloc Québécois, the member for La Pointe-de-l'Île, who has been quite vocal over the years.
Another is the member for Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, who I claim is the expert on this topic. I am pleased that he has been along at these delegations and has spoken not only on behalf of his party but on behalf of Canada and on behalf of Newfoundland and Labrador. I congratulate him for the work that he has done.
We had Senator Lynch-Staunton, Senator Milne, and Senator Goldstein, and believe it or not, I remember one Senator Mac Harb was there. I do not recall him speaking for or against. I do not recall that, but we were all speaking against it. Why in the world was he so quiet? I do not want to get into all that. That is the problem of the Liberal Party.
It is particularly regrettable that this vote comes just one day before the Prime Minister attends the May 6th Canada-European Union leaders' summit in Prague, an event that underscores our important shared values historically in Europe.
As with any bilateral relationship, there are always some issues on which we will not agree. We will not let this single disagreement get in the way of our overall efforts at building a stronger good-faith community partnership between Canada and the European Union. However, members should rest assured that we will not allow our broader objectives to distract us from defending the interests of Canadian sealers and their families.
As has been indicated already in this debate, Canada goes to great lengths to have a humane, well-regulated, conservation-based seal hunt. Our standards are based on the best scientific advice available, including that of the European Food Safety Authority.
It is therefore particularly galling to see claims by European officials and politicians, who know better, that the hunting methods employed in Canada are cruel. The EU's own EFSA study stated categorically that seals can be killed humanely with the methods employed in Canada, primarily the rifle but also the hakapik. Indeed, the sealing methods employed in Canada are in many ways similar to killing methods used in other industrial sectors, including other fur industries in Europe. This makes the actions taken in Europe outrageous and hypocritical.
What is even more shocking is the way in which Senator Mac Harb, with the tacit permission of the Liberal leader, has attacked Canadian sealers. While the government was working to advocate on behalf of Canadian sealers—