RANKIN INLET, Nunavut, Canada -- Canada's governor general ate a slaughtered seal's raw heart in a show of support to the country's seal hunters, a display that a European Union spokeswoman on Tuesday called "too bizarre to acknowledge."
It's a different culture, my dear. Please be properly respectful. I'd a friend who, when working in Japan, ate a large, live insect because that's what the guys at the plant were eating -- an annual ritual, I believe. As a result, they did everything he wanted without demur, a much more satisfactory situation than had he insulted them by refusing. When in Rome, and all that.
Sure hope he washed it down with a bottle of Molsons ...
Or the Japanese equivalent. I imagine so -- he was a big Irish lad from the cow-tipping part of Pennsylvania. He and Mr. Wife put away a couple of cases of this'n'that one New Year's Eve to show me what drunkenness looked like, but I couldn't see any difference. Still, they tried, which was awfully sweet of them.
Governor General Michaelle Jean, the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state, gutted the seal and swallowed a slice of the mammal's organ late Monday after an EU vote earlier this month to impose a ban on seal products on grounds that the seal hunt is cruel.
Thus leaving more for everyone else. Thanks, guys!
Asked Tuesday whether her actions were a message to Europe, Jean replied, "Take from that what you will."
The governor general expressed herself so much more tactfully than the EU spokesperson, which no doubt explains their relative positions.
Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered Monday as Jean knelt above a pair of seal carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin. After cutting through the flesh, Jean turned to the woman beside her and asked: "Could I try the heart?" She swallowed a piece whole and deemed it tasty, saying: "It's like sushi. ... And it's very rich in protein."
Jean, whose post is largely ceremonial, defended the hunt as an eons-old traditional hunting practice that is not inhumane. A spokeswoman for EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas offered no official reaction. "No comment; it's too bizarre to acknowledge," Barbara Helfferich said.
Ms Helfferich not only insulted the governor general, but also the ancient customs of an aboriginal culture? My dear, we simply do not behave so -- what were you thinking!
Animal rights groups believe Canada's annual seal hunt is cruel, poorly monitored and provides little economic benefit. Sealers and Canadian authorities say it is sustainable, humane and provides income for isolated communities.
Barbara Slee, an anti-seal hunt campaigner at the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Brussels said she was disgusted by Jean's actions. "The fact that the governor-general in public is slashing and eating a seal, I don't think that really helps the cause, and I'm convinced that this will not change the mind [sic] of European citizens and politicians" because the deal is largely finished, Slee said.
Does anyone other than activists and the self-congratulatory EU care about changing the minds of European citizens and politicians on such issues?
EU governments are to sign the ban into law on June 25th after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impose the measure. The new EU rule offers narrow exemptions so Inuit communities from Canada, Greenland and elsewhere can continue traditional hunts, but bars them from large-scale trading of their pelts and other seal goods in Europe.
The governor general ate the heart, she didn't offer up the freshly skinned pelt as a gift to the appalled EU spokesperson. Please calm yourself.
Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International Canada, said Jean's actions were misleading and offensive because of the exemptions. "Inuit people are protected in the legislation. To suggest otherwise is deceptive on the part of the Canadian government," Aldworth said.
I don't see any deception, but admittedly I am due for my annual vision check.
Newfoundland sealer Jack Troake chuckled after hearing of Jean's actions. "That's great stuff," he said. "You've got some of these environmentalists that are going to jump on her, but I think she's strong enough. She can take that, I think."
She cut out the heart of a seal and ate it. I think she can take that, too.
Who probably never has in her life ever killed what she ate and has lived in such a modern food marketing bubble that the whole concept is unfathomable to her. The ruling caste in the EU seem to be on the old - "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche"* vis a vis the habits and traditions of the Inuit.
*"Let them eat rich, expensive, funny-shaped, yellow, eggy buns."
#6
Shoulda been Alaska's governor doing it. Could have made the tv coverage of last fall's election even more interesting (remember the turkey pardon?)
#19
The new EU rule offers narrow exemptions so Inuit communities from Canada, Greenland and elsewhere can continue traditional hunts, but bars them from large-scale trading of their pelts and other seal goods in Europe.
The EU is passing rules as to whether Inuit citizen of Canada can hunt seals in Canada? Am I understanding this correctly?
#22
"But I suppose the EU would prefer to have the Inuit eating white bread, twinkies and potato chips"
So they could get diabetes, like so many Indian tribes?
Most Indians/Inuit/Eskimo etc. are Siberians who have not evolved to eat a high-carb diet. No matter to the EUros, who would force them to do so to support the n-a-a-a-a-a-rative.....
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/29/2009 21:17 Comments ||
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#23
From Wikipedia article on Michaelle Jean: "In her capacity as acting Commander-in-Chief, on 8 March 2007, Jean made her first visit to Canadian troops taking part in the offensive in Afghanistan. Prior to this, the Governor General had stated her desire to visit soldiers in the region, but her Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, advised her not to go, citing security concerns over the viceroy being in such a turbulent area. This was despite the fact that a number of Canadian politicians had already visited the region, but still, Jean landed on the same day that two attacks against Canadian soldiers took place. Jean had the arrival timed specifically for International Women's Day, stating: "the women of Afghanistan may face the most unbearable conditions, but they never stop fighting for survival. Of course, we, the rest of the women around the world, took too long to hear the cries of our Afghan sisters, but I am here to tell them that they are no longer alone. And neither are the people of Afghanistan." Part of the Governor General's duties included a meeting with Afghan women, as well as Canadian soldiers, Royal Canadian Mounted Police teams, humanitarian workers, and diplomats".
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