Diversity of opinion, in combination with the freedom to express it, is always a good thing. Canadians have a wide diversity of opinion on many issues, among them, the war in Iraq, and the annual East Coast harp seal harvest. Rick Zemanek is an Advocate editor for the CP (Canadian) publication. He objects to a recent Parliamentary debate in the UK, in which speakers appear to have used the Canadian harp seal hunt as a device to deflect attention away from Britain's willingness to join the United States in the aggressive war in Iraq. At least, that's the interpretation of Zemanek, who notes that while the British Parliamentarians are busy abhorring the seal hunt, they are ignoring the cruel effects of war on Iraqi children and other civilians. This is a military operation that Canadians are not contributing to, although they have offered humanitarian aid.

There is more than one point to be made here. First of all, both a British Parliamentarian and this Canadian writer refer to the "clubbing of innocent baby seals" as an on-going reality for which, says the British Parliamentarian, "Canada should be ashamed". The British Parliamentarian, in his speech to the UK Parliament, declared that the seal hunt continues to damage Canada's reputation with the rest of the world. Such statements made it obvious that he, (and perhaps the Canadian writer as well), is ignorant of several facts. First, they both referred to the "clubbing of baby seals". Whitecoats are no longer clubbed and are no longer harvested.

Older seals that have developed the dark hairseal coarse coat, that swim and fish for themselves, are targeted by today's hunters who take them with a single head shot with a center fire rifle. These animals may or may not all be young of the year. They are not "babies" in any sense of the word, being completely independent of their dams. The propaganda of animal rights and environmentalist web sites and literature, however, continues to portray the seal hunt in the same manner as was popular among them twenty years ago. The undeserved credibility of these messages may derive from the bloodily explicit pictures that are still being used by campaigners to continue to raise their millions of dollars. These lies bring in blood money, pure and simple. Those who believe this false information need to better inform themselves about reality.

The Canadian writer deplores the British decision to join the United States in pursuing a war which he believes is unjustified, because no weapons of mass destruction have been found. He deplores the British's gushy concern for baby seals while ignoring the war deaths, injuries, and terror of innocent Iraqis. Again, many facts are available for our consideration, and war is always hell. Not all the reports we receive from "news" sources are true, and truth is sometimes masked through lack of information released. No one likes this war. Its justification shall probably always be debated.

Not all Canadians agree that the US and UK should never have invaded Iraq. Most Canadians on the East Coast are more than annoyed at the UK Parliamentarians who signed a resolution condemning the seal hunt, something the fishermen depend upon in these days of fish scarcity. Seals are so over abundant that they are overflowing the marine ecosystem of eastern Canada. They are eating any fish that can fit down their throats. They have increased from 1.8 million to over 5 million animals since 1983.

The situation would not have developed without the "save the seals" campaigns that shut off the market for their pelts in Europe. Let Britain deplore the clubbing of baby seals all they wish. Lets hope the rest of the world shall soon recognize that the dishonest campaign to save the seals has caused pain and suffering, in the end, to the animals themselves and to the good people of Canada who have always depended upon them for food, fur, and cash.

We shall continue to remind all rational and humane people that we need to work together to find ways to make a living and to wisely use all our resources. Let us all work towards respect, understanding and better relations among men.