July 3rd, 2006
Regional opponents to Canada's east coast seal hunt, are invited to
link up through a new blogspot on the worldwide web documenting a unique
form of protest that took place over the Canada Day long weekend on
Vancouver Island.
Citizen Support for Marine Mammal Protection (CSMMP), a Comox
Valley-based grassroots initiative uniting regional opposition to the
killing of seals and other marine mammals in and around Vancouver Island
coastal waters and beyond, were among those who took part in a symbolic
funeral motorcade on July 2nd.
Attracting anti-hunt proponents from Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo,
Qualicum, Parksville, Denman Island, Courtenay and Comox, the funeral
motorcade originated in the provincial capital and convened locally in
Courtenay's Simms Park with organizer Anthony Marr. The Vancouver-based
activist determined that if 260,000 of the over 300,000 young seals killed
for their fur on the east coast this past spring alone were lined up nose
to tail along the highway, they would cover the distance from Victoria to
Campbell River and back again.
A Canadian of Chinese descent, Marr has gained international renown for
his outspoken opposition to the use of animal products like seal penises,
tiger bone, and bear gall bladders in Chinese traditional medicines. His
attempt to implement a BC ban on the trophy hunting of grizzly bears
through a voter-driven referendum a few years back, also attracted
significant support in the Comox Valley.
Marr's inaugral BC Funeral Motorcade for the Seals- intentionally timed
to coincide with our national holiday weekend- also demonstrated that
'dissent is democracy in action'. In alliance with the Humane Society of
the United States, the Vancouver Humane Society and others, many concerned
people support the current boycotts of Canadian seafood, and Canadian
tourism, as long as the DFO sanctioned hunt continues.
While the only political party in our country that has taken a stand
against the east coast commercial seal hunt remains the Green Party of
Canada, local MLA Catherine Bell has failed to respond to local
constituent requests for updates on any NDP Party deliberations concerning
incidents of cruelty to animals documented on the ice floes, and human
rights violations concerning both national and international third party
legal hunt observers.
Local media informed about the Funeral Motorcade for the Seals
convergence did not attend. Citizen Support for Marine Mammal Protection
invites the area public to visit www.csmmp.blogspot.com for further
information and solidarity building. -Fireweed (Citizen Support for Marine
Mammal Protection, Denman Island, BC)
~Fireweed
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