Ein kanadischer Parlamentarier regt an, sich die Heuchelei von Sankt Seehofer nicht bieten zu lassen. Der CSU-Agrarminister möchte bekanntlich die Einfuhr kanadischer Robbenprodukte verbieten, in der Hoffnung, dass die Robben sein angeschlagenes Image retten. Der Liberale Scott Simms schlägt die richtige Antwort vor:
One good ban deserves another; Liberal MP calling for embargo of German deer and boar
In a battle of squeakers and beaters, Liberal MP Scott Simms says countries that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Artikel von Jamie Baker aus The Telegram, St. John’s, Neufundland, vom 28.02.2007
In the wake of a proposed German ban on the import of seal products, the
Liberal Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor MP is planning to bring a
similar motion to the floor of the Canadian House of Commons.
His motion, based on principle moreso than economics, will call for a
ban on the import of, and trade in, wild venison and wild boar products
from Germany.
“Time and time again we dispel all these myths being put out there by
animal rights groups, and yet, we still face these stupid resolutions
and motions that basically play right into those myths,” Simms told The
Telegram Tuesday.
Simms has been considering the motion since the issue first arose in
Germany last fall.
However, earlier this week, Germany’s agriculture minister, Horst
Seehofer, announced plans to introduce a bill to prohibit the import of
all seal products.
Animal rights groups are already heralding Seehofer’s move as a major
victory that could cost the Canadian seal industry about $2 million per
year.
On the flip-side, numbers released by the provincial government indicate
that 1.2 million deer and over 500,000 wild boars are hunted in Germany
annually.
Simms’ resolution indicates that the animals are “cruelly slaughtered
every year in Germany” and that most of the animals are killed for sport
and to provide ‘traditional delicacies’ for the local market.
“That doesn’t sound like full utilization of the species to me,” Simms
said, noting that many of the boar taken are babies, commonly referred
to as squeakers, that are not yet weaned from their mothers; many of the
deer taken are fallow deer, which Simms said is “pretty much like
killing Bambi.”
His motion states that desire to manufacture traditional lederhosen from
the hides of deer and boar is not an acceptable rationale for the
ongoing hunt, and that lederhosen can easily be made from synthetic
material.
“Canada must take all available measures that may contribute to the
widest possible curtailing of wild deer and boar hunting for such
frivolous purposes,” Simms’ motion states.
In addition, Simms charges that the hunt of boar and deer in Germany
runs counter to good conservation practices, given shrinking habitat and
the effects of climate change.
He also pointed out that the hunts are done under slack licensing
controls, with no training requirements for hunters.
“Our seal harvest is a professional harvest done under monitored
conditions. When they slaughter deer and boar, is that monitored?” Simms
asked.
Fisheries Department spokesman Phil Jenkins told The Canadian Press that
the German Bundestag has yet to see any legislation, and Germany remains
out of step with the rest of the European Union. He said the European
Commission decided last month that Canada’s current legislation
adequately protects young seals.
Simms targets the federal Foreign Affairs Department for not being
active enough in Europe with respect to the seal issue.
He said evidence of government’s lack of commitment on the matter can be
found in a September 2006 decision to cut the foreign diplomacy budget -
a budget that picks up the tab for Canadian officials travelling to
foreign nations on matters of relations and trade.
“I don’t think our Foreign Affairs Department is doing a good enough job
getting the message out on the seal hunt. I want to see them run with
this and I challenge them to do so,” Simms said, insisting that he is
tired of Canada being the favourite target when it comes to seal
hunting.
“There are two members of the EU that kill whitecoats and that would be
Russia and Norway, but it seems like Canada is always the whipping boy,”
he said.
“If the German parliamentarians think I’m wrong, and if the minister of
agriculture thinks I’m wrong, then come to Canada and tell me I’m wrong
- and when he comes to Canada, he can meet me in Twillingate.” Simms
said he also plans to send copies of his motion to contacts in Europe.
“Politicians in Europe are using this for their own political reasons,”
he said. “I plan to send a copy of this motion to places I know in
Europe to let them know we are serious about this, and that they should
be, too.
“Have we played nice for too long now? It seems like it. So I’m putting
the motion to the House and if Foreign Affairs doesn’t like it, well,
they’ll just have to deal with it.”