|
U.S. Businesswoman Makes $16 Million Offer to Canadian PM to End Seal Hunt |
|
|
|
Written by Wire Services
|
|
Tuesday, 04 April 2006 |
In a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Cathy Kangas, CEO and Founder of PRAI Beauty, a global beauty company, has offered to raise the $16 million that Canadian fishermen will realize from the sale of the pelts of slaughtered baby seals. Ms. Kangas wrote: "If you stop this year's hunt immediately, we will provide you with the $16 million to be distributed at your discretion." The Canadian government has stated repeatedly that the seal hunt provides needed off-season income to the fishermen in the communities of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland.
Kangas also proposed working with the Canadian government to institute a program to buy back existing fishing licenses and launch a program of eco-tourism in Northeastern Canada to replace the seal hunt. "Canadian fishermen could earn more money serving as park rangers for high end tours to Canada to see the beautiful spectacle of seals giving birth on the ice floes," she noted. She said that whale-watching tours in Canada have been very successful attracting visitors.
"We are providing you with an alternative to what Paul McCartney called 'a stain on the character of the Canadian people.' If this is really simply an economic problem, then take our offer," Mrs. Kangas stated in her letter. The money, she pointed out, will be raised from private citizens and animal protection groups worldwide which oppose the seal hunt including The Humane Society of the United States, which has more than nine million members.
Mrs. Kangas added: "With the worldwide boycott of Canadian seafood, the television coverage of baby seals being clubbed to death for their pelts, and the involvement of high-profile celebrities such as Heather and Paul McCartney and Bridget Bardot, one would think that Stephen Harper would welcome an economic solution to the seal hunt. We are willing to negotiate in good faith. However, should he choose to ignore my letter and continue with the hunt, we need to ask the world what will it take for Canada to end this barbaric practice?"
Cathy Kangas has championed animal welfare issues for more than twenty years. She presently serves on the Regional Council of IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and as an advisor to HSUS (Humane Society of the United States).
|
