Response to comments made by Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Submitted by Mary Simon on Mon, 2008-12-08 11:34
I issued this important statement today:
I am shocked and appalled at the comments by Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society published in newspapers across Canada regarding the hunt of narwhals in Nunavut this week. His comments were vicious towards Inuit. They demonstrate a complete and utter ignorance of our Inuit society, history and traditions. He, like all individuals in trust positions are accountable for their words and actions. There should be no place in our societies for commentary such as his. His words are not conservationist in nature - they are extremist. He should be removed from his position for spreading hatred towards Inuit. I am asking for an apology from Mr. Watson to Inuit and a full retraction of his comments. Futher I intend to seek advice on the options that Inuit may want to pursue.
We are one of the First Peoples in this great country called Canada. We have signed comprehensive land claim agreements with the Crown which absolutely protect our ancestral hunting and fishing rights for time immemorial. These constitutionally protected rights are fundamental to the preservation of our Inuit society and are intrinsically linked with the preservation and promotion of our language and culture.
The Narwhal Whale cull was not something Inuit wanted to do for their own enjoyment - it was done because it was the humane thing to do to prevent these animals from a tortuous death from starvation and drowning.
We will not have our culture and way of life dictated by outsiders, especially animal rights extremists like Paul Watson.
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Les conservateurs n’aiment pas les animaux.
L’abattage de quelques 600 narvals pris dans les glaces à Pond Inlet au Nunavut à de quoi soulever le cœur des écologistes.
La première question qu’on doit se poser est celle-ci : a-t-on tout fait pour tenter de sauver ces animaux ? Ces narvals étaient dans une situation de détresse de laquelle ils ne pouvaient s’échapper, nous dit-on. La mort de faim ou d’asphyxie dans les glaces en formation était-elle inexorable ? Dans un pays qui compte de puissants brise-glaces et comptant sur l’aide des Inuits, si soucieux du bien-être des animaux, on s’attendait à un autre spectacle ; celui de la délivrance et de la vie. Et bien non.
Le Canada aura encore brillé par sa magistrale cruauté envers la faune sauvage. Dans un pays, dont le gouvernement conservateur fait l’apologie de la chasse commerciale jusqu’au cœur même de l’Europe, et utilise l’argent public dans des proportions intolérables pour subventionner cette chasse, la vie de ces quelques narvals comptait bien peu. Mr. Harper, que notre malheur commun a reconduit au pouvoir, et les hauts fonctionnaires du Département des Pêches et Océans feront preuve encore d’un manque de compassion affligeant. Non contents d’avoir gagner des votes chez les Inuits, dont la culture, invariablement, semble nécessiter la mort de mammifères marins, des ministres fédéraux sortent de leurs igloos, pour critiquer les propos excessifs de Paul Watson. Le Président de la Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, dont on réclame sa destitution, est un habitué des formules chocs et réitère ses exploits médiatiques en assimilant la tuerie des narvals à Pond Inlet, au massacre de My Lai, lorsque des soldats américains massacrèrent les habitants de tout un village, durant la guerre du Vietnam.
Paul Watson pouvait compter sur la réaction d’un ministère rompu aux manipulations de masse, et aux techniques d’intimidations, qui feignant l’indignation, pousse le ridicule jusqu’à demander des excuses pour des commentaires de nature « blessante » envers la culture Inuit. Watson sortira toujours vainqueur face à une institution de contrôle des pêches, qui ne perd jamais une occasion de se tourner en ridicule. Ayant les intérêts des chasseurs à cœur, quoiqu’il en coûte à l’image du Canada, une image déjà bien ternie par ces amoncellements ensanglantés de peaux de phoques, comment pouvons-nous respecter un gouvernement conservateur et des institutions qui détruisent la faune sauvage et saccage l’environnement avec une telle indifférence et une telle férocité.
Que le narval ne soit pas une espèce en voie de disparition pour mériter qu’on lui vienne en aide, est un argument fallacieux, qui traduit autant le manque de réflexion des uns que le manque de compassion des autres. Il serait bien de se rappeler qu’au Canada, il n’est pas trop tard pour protéger la faune et l’environnement et pour mettre un terme à l’arrogance de Mr. Harper et de son agence fédérale de destruction massive.
reply
As is evident from the comments to my statement on Paul Watson and and his position on the recent humanitarian harvesting of trapped narwhals in Pond Inlet, we do allow the airing of differing views in this space. Having said that, I am again dismayed and discouraged at the apparent lack of understanding of the Inuit way of life where hunting for subsistence living, as my people have done for centuries, can be criticized.
Despite our ongoing efforts to educate non-Inuit on Inuit living conditions and lack of nutritional food available at the small stores in the communities, and the unimaginable high cost to transport food from the south to the Arctic, our way of life appears to remain a mostly unknown element, even among those who would otherwise seem to be educated and worldly.
This alone reinforces the ongoing need for this national Inuit organization and its goals, but also that our efforts must remain focused on the well being of our own people and their interests.
Comments such as those from Paul Watson and Mr. Ruffieux demonstrate western education has done little to improve their understanding of their Inuit fellow Canadians.
Narwhal mercy
It was with a heavy heart that many around this small planet watched the narwhal emergency unfold, and while we all hoped for the best outcome, it became apparent as the hours passed that rescue was not humanly possible.
Given that reality, and the fact the whales were increasingly distressed by the cuts from the ice, their inability to feed and a diminishing capacity to breathe compounded by what must have been mounting panic, the only merciful and humane option was ultimately a quick death.
Paul Watson should have left his soapbox long enough to examine the facts and possibilities, and to respond to the situation as a responsible public figure, rather than as an enraged and ignorant rabble-rouser seeking only to advance his own agenda.
For shame, Mr. Watson. As a Canadian, you should be better informed about our native Canadians – how they hunt, survive, and deal with tough situations which many lesser humans, including yourself, might turn away from. You have done the Inuit of Canada a disservice – and exposed yourself as less than what your press has led us to expect from you.
Thank God the Inuit on site did not have to await direction from such as Watson before taking the necessary and humane actions they did. Delay or inaction would have turned a tragic event into a heartbreaking one. No one present cheered this outcome.
Mrs. Simon, I am sure the views expressed by Watson are shared only by those whose vision is narrow, uninformed and unlikely to be affected by facts. An apology is certainly called for, although I doubt Watson is man enough for that.