Canadian parliamentarians feast on seal meat

(OTTAWA) - Lawmakers, a beauty queen and guests crammed into Canada's parliamentary restaurant to dine on seal meat Wednesday to show solidarity with hunters fighting a European ban on seal products.

It was standing room only for much of the luncheon.

Outside parliament, meanwhile, a handful of protestors railed against the annual seal hunt, which begins again at the end of the month, accusing Canada of propping up "an embarrassingly cruel slaughter."

"It's delicious," said Justin Trudeau, MP and son of late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, savoring a morsel of seal in a fruit compote on a cracker.

"People who haven't tried it should try it," echoed opposition Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, after his first time sampling the Canadian delicacy. "It tastes meaty, gamy. It's very good."

The luncheon in a chic dining room in the roof space over the Commons Chamber was attended by politicians of all stripes, including several ministers, one in seal fur, and Miss Newfoundland 2010 Sara Green.

Following hors-d'oeuvres, they were served a main course of "double smoked bacon wrapped seal loin" in "a port reduction" on the government's finest china, with a "medley of organic beets, carrots and turnips" and "Yukon gold potato pave."

And for desert: Baked Alaska.

Around 6,000 Canadians take part in seal hunting each year along the Atlantic coast, and 25 percent of their sales came from exporting products to Europe.

The 27 European Union states in July 2009 adopted a ban on seal products, ruling the goods could not be marketed from 2010.

Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette, who organized the "historic" lunch, said it was held "to give comfort to seal hunters ... to show them that we are standing behind them."

"Their income has been cut dramatically because of the ban in Europe and it's unfortunate."

Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said her department has worked "very hard" to support the annual seal hunt, to "diversify products" and "diversify markets" to "ensure sealers can make a living from the hunt."

Ottawa authorizes the slaughter of 338,000 seals per season and says the survival of the species is not in danger. But it has faced fierce protests from animal rights groups who say the slaughter is barbaric.

While MPs dined, Ottawa Animal Defense League spokeswoman Emily Lavender said outside parliament: "The commercial slaughter of seals for their fur is an outdated industry that should be phased out."

Behind her, an animal rights activist dressed as a seal mascot draped in Canada's national colors -- red and white -- was described as "red with fury" over the hunt.

The animal rights group's polling, said Lavender, shows a majority of Canadians do not support the seal hunt. But other surveys found a kind of national pride in the hunt has emerged in opposition to the EU ban.

Seal hunting "is part of our tradition. It's part of our future," explained Ignatieff, smacking his lips as he accused naysayers of not understanding all the facts.

In November, Canada filed an official complaint at the World Trade Organization against the EU ban on imported seal products, saying it violated trade rules.

In a letter sent to the European Union and the WTO, Canada said the move was "inconsistent with the EC's (European Commission's) obligations" under international trade rules.

"We hope the World Trade Organization will study the case soon," Hervieux-Payette said on Wednesday.

Canada and Greenland account for more than 50 percent of the 900,000 seals slain in the world each year. Other seal-hunting countries include Norway, Namibia, Iceland, Russia and the United States.