Will your Member of Parliament eat seal meat?
Good Day Readers:
Like you we too are constantly being bombarded with unsolicited mail from our Member of Parliament asking all manner of questions. A function of minority government? Now there's something you can quiz yours about, "Will you eat seal meat? It's important I know before the next election!"
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
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Seal soon on the menu at Parliamentary Restaruant
Tom Spears, Canwest News Service
Tuesdaay, November 17, 2009
A harp seal lies on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. (Reuters)
OTTAWA -- The Parliamentary Restaurant will soon serve seal meat to anyone with a taste for game - and controversy.
Hull-Aylmer MP Marcel Proulx confirmed the addition to the menu is just awaiting hunting season, and should arrive in the new year.
This is the second time the restaurant has tried to carry seal meat, he said.
"In 2008 there had been a request [for seal] from a couple of senators. The problem was they could not find a supplier.
"Now the chef, I understand, has found a supplier in the Magdalen Islands. I think, because of the hunting season, they will be able to get some meat in the early part of 2010. Then they will be able to offer it in the Parliamentary Restaurant."
Mr. Proulx brushed off any question of possible protests.
"To start with, seal hunting is legal in Canada. Seal meat is therefore legal. There are processes to be followed according to the law, rules and regulations.
"This is a good opportunity for the industry. More often than not, you try to sell a product and the first thing people ask you is, ‘Is your government using your product?' In this case they'll be able to say, ‘Yes."
"It's good for the restaurant, it's good for the [hunting] industry, good for the fishermen, good for the entire picture of what the seal hunt is all about."
The decision was vetted by the Board of Internal Economy, the governing body of the House of Commons, he said. The board, Mr. Proulx said, felt the menu was best left to the chef.
He doesn't know how the meat will be served.
"I don't ask my wife for her recipes, so I'm not going to ask the executive chef."
This isn't seal meat's first brush with Ottawa's power brokers. Governor General Michaëlle Jean sparked controversy and praise when she ate a piece of raw seal meat on a trip to the Arctic in May.
The seal hunt has also been the target of many protests in Canada and abroad, particularly in the European Union.
The Magdalen Islands are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Ottawa Citizen
Like you we too are constantly being bombarded with unsolicited mail from our Member of Parliament asking all manner of questions. A function of minority government? Now there's something you can quiz yours about, "Will you eat seal meat? It's important I know before the next election!"
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seal soon on the menu at Parliamentary RestaruantTom Spears, Canwest News Service
Tuesdaay, November 17, 2009
A harp seal lies on an ice floe in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. (Reuters)OTTAWA -- The Parliamentary Restaurant will soon serve seal meat to anyone with a taste for game - and controversy.
Hull-Aylmer MP Marcel Proulx confirmed the addition to the menu is just awaiting hunting season, and should arrive in the new year.
This is the second time the restaurant has tried to carry seal meat, he said.
"In 2008 there had been a request [for seal] from a couple of senators. The problem was they could not find a supplier.
"Now the chef, I understand, has found a supplier in the Magdalen Islands. I think, because of the hunting season, they will be able to get some meat in the early part of 2010. Then they will be able to offer it in the Parliamentary Restaurant."
Mr. Proulx brushed off any question of possible protests.
"To start with, seal hunting is legal in Canada. Seal meat is therefore legal. There are processes to be followed according to the law, rules and regulations.
"This is a good opportunity for the industry. More often than not, you try to sell a product and the first thing people ask you is, ‘Is your government using your product?' In this case they'll be able to say, ‘Yes."
"It's good for the restaurant, it's good for the [hunting] industry, good for the fishermen, good for the entire picture of what the seal hunt is all about."
The decision was vetted by the Board of Internal Economy, the governing body of the House of Commons, he said. The board, Mr. Proulx said, felt the menu was best left to the chef.
He doesn't know how the meat will be served.
"I don't ask my wife for her recipes, so I'm not going to ask the executive chef."
This isn't seal meat's first brush with Ottawa's power brokers. Governor General Michaëlle Jean sparked controversy and praise when she ate a piece of raw seal meat on a trip to the Arctic in May.
The seal hunt has also been the target of many protests in Canada and abroad, particularly in the European Union.
The Magdalen Islands are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Ottawa Citizen
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 4:01 AM
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