Globe and Mail Seeks HSUS "Seal" of Approval

Once again we find ourselves treated to another slanted, narrow minded and painfully misinformed article from the brain trust at the Globe and Mail. Adding his name to the ever growing list of columnists with one lonely brain cell, a list that includes the infamous Margaret Wente, is none other than their newest purveyor of piffle, Chris Morris. A writer who most likely gained any knowledge he has of seals from 1960’s National Geographic magazines, the Flipper TV series and a visit or two to Toronto Zoo.

In an article thinly disguised as a news report on sealers in Quebec, PEI and Newfoundland & Labrador who have requested tighter regulations, Morris clearly abandoned any semblance of unbiased journalism in favour of pressing his personal agenda to the paper’s already misinformed readers. Don’t get me wrong, I love opinion pieces as much as the next guy, even if I don’t always agree with their content, but if you’re going down that road don’t disguise it as a news article. In all aspects of life there are certain lines that you don’t cross, dressing up an opinion piece as an unbiased news story is one of them.

In the article, the title of which contains the words: Hatred and confrontation on the blood-stained Ice floes, (my first thought was hell no, there can’t be an ounce of bias in this article) Morris says the sealers, “… want Ottawa to establish tighter regulations governing the growing number of hunt observers, most of them from groups dedicated to the protection of wildlife.”

Lord help me. Where has this guy been for the past several decades? Groups dedicated to animal “protection” include the World Wildlife Fund, the SPCA and a handful of others, who, by the way, are not protesting the seal harvest. Animal protection groups do not include the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), PETA or the Sea Shepherd Society. These groups are not interested in protecting animal. They are animal rights groups, not animal protection groups and there’s a big difference.

What these groups espouse is awarding animals precisely the same “human” rights as you or I have. In other words it wouldn’t matter what an animal was being utilized for (commercial, medical, food) or how humane the process was, these groups are against it, end of story. As far as they are concerned everyone on star ship earth should eat tofu and drink green tea all day. In their eyes not one single solitary animal should ever be used for any reason what so ever. Starve if you must but Bambi must be protected at all costs.

These groups have nothing to do with animal protection but rather the promotion “animal rights”, an unrealistic, utopian vision. They are promoting a vision of a world where everyone lives in harmony and sheep lay down with lions. Sure, it might be a nice daydream and I’d love to live there myself, but forcing this vision upon reality is a different story. Put a sheep next to a lion and see how fast you get my point.

In pretending to present the government’s position that the use of high powered rifles is causing concern for the safety of sealers and protestors alike, Morris’ bias shines through once again. Instead of speaking with someone who might know a thing or two about hunting safety Morris chose instead to interview Rebecca Aldsworth of the Humane Society of the United States. Ms Aldsworth began her diatribe by talking about the “pro-sealing Minister” and said she, “believes observing the hunt is a right, not a privilege.” She went on to say that observers, already have to stay at least 10 metres from harvesters.

Thank-you Mr. Morris for ensuring that Ms. Aldsworth got her propaganda quota filled once again this week. By publishing her “pro-sealing Minister” statement and her other five or six “message riddled” quotes I’m sure you made her day. If I were writing the piece however I might have asked Ms Aldsworth to tell me if, since she believes observation is a right instead of a privilege, she would like government to fly in animals from around the world to observe the harvest. I mean she believes that animals have all the same rights as a person doesn’t she?

I’d also ask her what she knows about hunting safety especially since she believes that 10 metres is a safe distance from someone firing a high powered rifle. She obviously has a little bit to learn on the subject. Maybe a bullet or two whizzing past her ear this spring will help her get the message loud and clear, not that I’d ever hope for such a thing to happen of course.

Morris closes his pseudo realistic news story by making sure to mention that Ms. Aldsworth’s animal “protection” group is organizing visits to the hunt by European parliamentarians, who are considering a Europe-wide ban on seal products. It sounds impressive and indeed she is working with European leaders to legislate just such a ban, but that isn’t the whole story.

The reason she’s gained some support in Europe is quite simple. Canadian seal products are sold in various places around the world but very rarely, if ever, in the countries she’s talking with. I guess it’s pretty easy to support a ban on something you’ve never bought in the first place. It’s sort of the European equivalent of the U.S. restaurant boycott her group promoted last year. At that time Aldsworth claimed that hundreds of American restaurants were refusing to buy Canadian seafood. What she cleverly forgot to mention was than many of the restaurants she listed were vegetarian establishments and had no reason to buy seafood in the first place, no matter where it came from. I guess Chris Morris and the crack editorial team at the Globe and Mail missed out on that one huh? Amazing for a team of well respected journalists.