Dining on Seal in the Parliamentary Restaurant

It was with great fanfare that seal meat is now on the menu at the parliamentary restaurant in the centre block of parliament hill. You will probably see this on the news today because the media event before today’s lunch was packed.
 
I was here in Kuujjuaq, however I asked the editor of Inuktitut Magazine, Melissa Irwin, who is also a Communications Officer at ITK in Ottawa to attend. She reports to me that there was great interest in the event today as all political parties were in support of having seal meat on the menu of the parliamentary restaurant.
 

I am pleased to hear that Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea were there in support of this initiative, as well as Senator Charlie Watt, and Senator Hervieux-Payette who organized the event.
 
As a teaser before the main course, the chefs brought out seal canapés, which Melissa informs me had a sweet citrus taste to them.
 
Initiatives such as this one are more than symbolic – it means an Ottawa restaurant is buying seal meat and putting it on the menu. It is also a demonstration of support for Inuit seal hunting traditions, and the economic benefits we still derive from it. Inuit are defending both our hunting traditions and the economic benefits in a court case we filed with the European Union on January 11, 2010, and I encourage my blog readers to review our press release on this issue.