Paul McCartney graced Canada with a visit yesterday, but only to bring to light a “stain” on our nation – the annual seal hunt. He and his wife donned fetching orange snowsuits and headed out to the ice floes to save the seals.
McCartney cooed and spoke softly as he came almost nose to nose with bawling pups on the frozen expanse.
Nearby, worried mother seals peered anxiously from areas of open water, clearly frightened by the men and women who so desperately want to be their saviours.
At one point, a prone Heather McCartney began to pet one of the furry pups, which turned and snapped, narrowly missing her hand. Federal regulations prohibit people from touching marine mammals.
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Phil Jenkins, a spokesman for the federal Fisheries Department, said he took the opportunity to make Ottawa’s case directly to McCartney when he spoke with him during a flight into Charlottetown on Wednesday night.
“Sir Paul McCartney said that he had heard that the seal population was declining and there was a conservation issue,” Jenkins said.
“In fact, the seal population is at 5.8 million animals and that’s about triple what is was in the 1970s.”
Jenkins said he was concerned by the McCartneys’ decision to pose with the youngest harp seals, known as whitecoats, because hunters have been banned from killing them since 1987.
Well, as long as Sir Paul and the little woman know what they’re on about, then.
You know, I am as big a fan of cute animals as the next person. I agree that fox hunting – which is for sport, not fur, and does not mean the livelihood of entire communities in the UK – should be better regulated, if not altogether banned.
I am also all for celebrities using their exposure to benefit people – God knows there are countless Africans who no doubt owe their continued existence to the constant (really constant) nagging of St. Bono.
However, if what said celebrity is nattering on about is based on misinformation and a deep seated desire to be the champion of the small and photogenic, then all s/he is doing is perpetuating the misinformation.
Colin has a friend at school who has obviously heard how important it is to conserve nature, save the rainforests, recycle paper, etc., etc. This friend has informed Colin that his grandfather, my dad, is a bad man because he cuts down trees.
Now, my dad is not a saint. He’s not vegetarian, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him take a stand on world hunger. His track record with nature, though, is pretty good. On his 65-acre property, hunting has never been allowed. One winter, he fed peanut butter toast to an injured raccoon for weeks. He makes room in the freezer for various chicken parts so there’s always food for the local foxes.
As for the wood, well, the living room is panelled in wood from his forest. The house is heated at least in part by the wood he cuts. The cutting he does is strategic – old, dead trees, or trees that have been damaged and are thus posing a threat to other trees.
But as far as Colin’s eight-year-old friend is concerned, my dad cuts trees, so he’s bad.
I agree with you entirely and am just as perturbed by this as you are. I’m surprised the Government puts up with this kind of stupidity.
I get sick of celebrities throwing their names behind causes that they know nothing about. Too bad that seal didn’t get a piece of Heather. Would’ve been rather ironic if it had bit her and Paul had’ve tried to stomp it to make it let go. Go away Sir Paul…get back to where you once belonged…
Uncle Paul should head down to Columbia to protest against those nasty drug barons who are systematically destroying the coca plant population.