Fisheries committee  Absolutely. That is the whole purpose of our intervention here. That third party validation system should replace...and in fact, one of our recommendations—I believe it's recommendation two, option B—is to remove licensed observers altogether. Let's not make this observation. Let

Fisheries committee  In the testimonials that we've provided, our examples of licensed observers that have disrupted the hunting environment are by flying too close to the vessel itself, or putting themselves between the vessel and seals that are to be targeted, or by flying ahead and scaring the ani

Fisheries committee  From my perspective, it would only be speculation. I'm not a scientist, I can't—

Fisheries committee  I'd like to come to back to the point about the European Food Safety Authority. When the EU was considering the ban on seal products, they evaluated seal hunting practices in all the range states where seal hunting was conducted for commercial purposes. Canada was actually identi

Fisheries committee  Currently, it's recognized that the video cameras being used by the animal rights groups that are out there—because there are no animal welfare groups out there—are good for distances up to five nautical miles. The 500-metre zone is strictly for the safety of both the observer an

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much for your question. I'd like to rely on someone who perhaps said it best, and that was Albert Einstein. He said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome. Sometimes I find, related to this issue, that we

Fisheries committee  —a discussion that can lead us forward to structuring ourselves internally, such that we can approach international markets to allow value-added trade in our commodities. As you've recognized, right now the world is struggling with how it's going to manage itself as it relates to

Fisheries committee  I was referring to the omega-3s from the fat of the seal.

Fisheries committee  Certainly I think it's clear how we—

Fisheries committee  I'm not versed in these other bills that are currently alive. I know we as a sector believe very strongly in animal welfare and animal welfare improvement. I think Bill C-555 is a start for a debate that's been long required around how we allow observation and evaluation of the C

Fisheries committee  We believe the challenges to the grey seal products are the same as they are for the ringed seal product and Namibian fur seal product. A seal is a seal is a seal when it comes down to the marketplace. Regulations and international laws that afford derogations for products of cer

Fisheries committee  It's a very interesting period in the existence of this planet. We have a higher demand for proteins. We have a higher demand for omega-3 oils. We have a higher demand for eco-friendly textiles and other products. Yet we don't see an opportunity to position seal products for what

Fisheries committee  I'm not well versed on the other proposed discussions, however I can say that our group subscribes very highly to good animal welfare standards. The sealing sector itself, the harvesters, requested that the professionalization program that's now in place become mandatory. Along w

Fisheries committee  There is not enough science being carried out right now. The industry is very much in favour of further veterinarian inspection of the hunt, validation, and a lot of my representation was built on having third party validation. It has been required by international markets. It is

Fisheries committee  It's critical that we do this as soon as possible.