international lobby day to oppose seal hunt

I have a presentation due tomorrow, so I can't write anything new today. Which is fine, because what can I possibly say about this issue that hasn't been said hundreds and millions of times?

If you oppose the slaughter of seals for fur (not for sustenance), please take a moment of your day to contact your MP and Senators about it. From the Humane Society International / Canada:

+ + + +

Lobby Day for Seals
March 15, 2010

On March 15th, Humane Society International/Canada is asking you to help save the seals.

The overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose the commercial seal hunt — yet our government ignores our views, using our tax dollars to prop up the sealing industry. In their shameful pandering to this marginal industry, Canadian politicians are arrogantly turning their backs on the very people they expect to vote for them in the next election.

We need to send a clear message to our government. Tell your officials that they need to represent the views of all Canadians, not just those who slaughter seals.

Please contact your Member of Parliament and Senators and demand an end to the cruel commercial seal slaughter. Help us show the Canadian government that the overwhelming majority of Canadians will not tolerate the continuation of this needless killing.

There are four ways you can take action today:
* Visit your MP or Senators in person.
* Call your or MP or Senators.
* Write a handwritten letter and fax (or mail) to your MP or Senators.
* Send an email to your MP or Senators.

And here are five things to ask for:

* Ask your MP and Senators to call on Fisheries Minister Gail Shea to immediately cancel the 2010 commercial seal hunt.

* Ask your Senators to support Senator Mac Harb’s historic bill to end the commercial seal hunt.

* Ask your MP and Senators to work in the longer term to end the commercial seal slaughter by promoting a fair buyout of the commercial sealing industry.

* Ask your MP and Senators to work to stop a Canadian WTO challenge against the European Union in retaliation for its prohibition on seal product trade.

* Ask your MP and Senators to work to remove federal subsidies to the sealing industry.

There are so many things your representatives can do to end the commercial seal hunt. Please take the time to lobby for the seals — never have they needed our help so much.

Let's make March 15th count for the seals. Together, we can end Canada's commercial seal slaughter for once and for all!

Background Information: (pdfs)
* Inherently inhumane
* Myths and facts about Canada's seal slaughter
* Fast facts on Canada's commercial seal hunt
* Seals and fisheries interactions
* Seals, sea ice and climate change

+ + + +

Go here for lobbying tips and more actions you can take.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

not so fast

Not everyone thinks the Conservative government is a lock. Canada's opposition Conservative Party, which is set to bring down the minority Liberal government later this week, was hit by a new opinion poll on Monday that showed it was trailing in the country's most vote-rich region. The Leger Marketing poll for the Sun chain of newspapers put support for the Liberals in the powerful central province of Ontario at 43 percent compared with 31 percent for the Conservatives. Ontario, a Liberal stronghold at the federal level for the past 12 years, accounts for 106 of the 308 seats in House of Commons, and no party can hope to form a government without doing well there. . . . Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals have been badly hurt by a corruption scandal and Conservative leader Stephen Harper says the government must be defeated as soon as possible. The Leger figures, however, suggest there is no guarantee Harper can end 12 years of Liberal rule. Thanks, ALPF! I must say, I...
Read more

dipstick

So there won't be an election yet. Talk about a squeaker . Feel free to tell us how you feel about this, unless it's all been said already, then feel free not to. ALPF mustered his courage and sent more links, so I have some good commentary to post. I found this Macleans story on the Conservative party's reaction to Stronach's decision - and public reaction to that reaction - very interesting. Canadians seem almost universally turned off by the name-calling and sexist slurs. On the other hand, when a certain governor made his "girly men" pronouncement, his constituency howled with glee. (Which is not to say the rest of us weren't appalled.) The Macleans article also notes that not all the sexism came from politicians: Some of the most sexist characterizations of Stronach didn't come from her political adversaries, but from media. Montreal's La Presse newspaper ran a cartoon of Martin leaning out his car window to solicit a street-walking Stronach...
Read more