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| Last updated at 4:22 PM on 02/06/08 |
Fact or fiction? 
The Charter
We all recently received a flyer in the mail.
This flyer was entitled “message to celebrities.” The cover featured relatively unflattering photographs of Sir Paul McCartney, Paris Hilton and Brigit Bardot, and inside the fold, called on those same celebrities to “back off our seal hunt.”
The pamphlet contained information to constituents that the Harper Conservative government is “standing on the side of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians” when it comes to the seal hunt because “only Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Government have the courage to stand up to the celebrities and special interest groups.”
Sounds good. Everyone likes to have someone stand up for them, especially when something important is at stake.
What is at stake, however, is not our "right" to hunt seals. This pamphlet leads the reader to question the very integrity of our own government.
This flyer's tone is very similar to the style of propaganda often employed by those very groups the prime minister is condemning. It is leading and inaccurate to say the prime minister and the Conservative government are the only defenders of the seal hunt when we know there are Inuit groups, other provinces, other countries that have defended the seal hunt. It is leading and inaccurate for animal rights groups to use images of whitecoats in their efforts to raise money when we are know whitecoats haven't been hunted since the mid-eighties. The federal government and animal rights groups seem to be fudging the line a bit, dirtying the water. They are employing the same tactics!
It is certainly not “only” Prime Minister Stephen Harper who is “standing up to the celebrities and special interest groups.” Does anyone remember a very interesting Larry King Live episode a couple of years back when Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams went face-to-face with animal rights activist Sir Paul McCartney and his then wife, Heather Mills McCartney, on live television? He certainly "stood up" to the celebrities. There are also numerous well-written articles, films and websites with information about the seal hunt that does deal with facts about the hunt. So, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is certainly not the “only” one standing up on the issue.
This flyer would also have you believe, it seems, it is only Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who hunt seals, and all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are in favour of the seal hunt. While it can probably safely be assumed that most Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are in favour of the hunt, that's not all of them, and that is an assumption. And I'll bet it's safe to say the only a small percentage of people from this province have ever killed a seal, been at the Front or owned a hakapik. Let's call on all parties, on the pro and con side of this debate, to accurately name those who hunt seals, not "Newfoundlanders and Labradorians," but as hunters or harvesters.
And again, it is not only Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who hunt seals. Seal harvesters come from all Atlantic provinces, as well as Quebec, Nunavut and indeed, wherever seals can be.
Why is that not more clear in this pamphlet? Don't lump us all in the same boat. People from this province are as varied in their beliefs and convictions as people anywhere. And use better arguments than "back off our seal hunt" and offering the "us or them" mentality. Provide us with more information from government and independent sources to become more informed in a pamphlet like this, not whining and complaining and pointing the finger at "the enemy."
The pamphlet also states that special interest groups "just don't care at all" about the livelihoods of working people. That is inaccurate as well. Not all animal rights activists are uncaring. They obviously care about something, about animals, and very likely many may even care about people. Again, our government, which represents the people, should be careful about making inaccurate generalizations, much in the same way animal rights groups sometimes do.
As well, this two-sided folded leaflet uses an emotional appeal to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to make us believe the government is on our side, which they evidently are, but why the declaration? Why is this tactic employed by our own government on us? It is the same tactic many animal rights propagandists use around the world - the emotional appeal. Is our own government now happy to employ those very same methods after condemning them when used by the animal rights crowd? The pamphlet's tactic is so blatant in its appeal to our provincial pride it is embarrassing.
It is disappointing to see our own government try to manipulate the people with such a method, one the animal rights groups are often accused of. Our representatives in government should do their utmost to stick to the facts as they know them, maintain a steady course on the issue and be aware that animal rights groups will continue to promote their point of view, which they have every right to do. Government should remain calm and continue to state what they believe to be the facts, and refrain from straying from those facts. Rely on those facts!
One thing is for certain. This kind of blatant and misleading propaganda coming from our own government certainly does make one wonder, as the pamphlet asks, "Who's on your side?"
Elizabeth MacDonald - Editor
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02/06/08
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