Letter to GovT: Please uphold the ban on Seal-Hunt products!

{i'm on a ROLL}  YOU oughta write one too -
Use this link:  HSI Letter  


                                                                (from Humane Society website)

This is what i added (inside HSI's intro & ending in blue):

SUBJECT:  Please withdraw Canada's WTO challenge

Dear Decision Maker,
I am writing to express my strong opposition to Canada's request for a dispute panel to be established at the World Trade Organization in response to the European Union ban on seal product trade.

After a decade of increasingly active campaigning opposing Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt, i have come close to despair at Government's strange refusal to even acknowledge its rising swell of opposition - despite record-breaking numbers joining in the rally to 'Stop the Seal Hunt!', via numerous petitions boasting 100's of 1,000's of signatures, global high-profile celebrity appeals & involvement by virtually all large animal-welfare non-profits besides HSI:  PETA, IFAW, WSPA & many others.  I've watched wistfully as other, smaller, campaigns achieve results... cheered when the EU seal-products ban was announced... & cried tears of joy when Putin banned all seal-hunt trade in Russia.  Yet --still-- we Canadians are forced to suffer the shame of seeing our public servants (INEXPLICABLY) dig in their heels, refuse to compromise & stubbornly support the Seal 'Hunt' using lies, misinformation & misnomers via mainstream media.

On video-streaming websites like YouTube, the general public can see exactly what this appalling event is about.  If you have never seen it (& it seems that is the case), i recommend you view for yourself exactly WHO & WHAT you are supporting using OUR tax dollars, against most Canadians' wishes.  You will see why much of this footage comes with warnings of its graphic nature 'not suitable for children'.  You will see that, contrary to what you may be told, there's NOTHING noble, 'traditional' --or even HONEST-- about this supposed 'way of life' (which First Nations don't even support).
Full info @ this link:  The Cdn. Seal Hunt

NOBODY I know (including me) WANTS to watch filmed footage of the Seal 'Hunt':  the most disturbing, sadistic display of cowardly violence i have ever had the misfortune to witness.  Even if the Seal 'Hunt' WERE economically sound, sustainable & humane (which it's clearly NOT), the extreme distress inflicted so brutally would, for most Canadians, cancel out any benefits.  As with other questionable stances taken by Govt. recently, it appears we're being led away from future self-sufficiency/ sustainability, against the wishes of 86% of citizens & against our constitution (which asks us to be 'wildlife stewards') while condoning abuse of young wild seals in their own native habitat (which our constitution says must be protected) in a remote community that becomes more of a burden/drain each year...
[WE MUST DEFEND OUR WILDLIFE, NOT KILL THEM!]

PM Harper's reckless WTO challenge to the EU ban would cost Canadian taxpayers an estimated $10 million --yet another subsidy to the sealing industry stolen from the overwhelming majority of Canadians who want it to end-- just as Canada attempts to negotiate a trade deal with the European Union reportedly worth $12 billion annually to our economy.   It seems incomprehensible to risk beneficial relations with our second largest trading partner (leaders in sustainable technologies as well as our key source of ecotourism) while rushing to push through a dodgy deal (FIPPA) with an undemocratic republic (China) whose environmental record is already the world's WORST! These are not the sound moves of a well-informed government.

I implore you to consider the many benefits of upholding/ respecting EU's ban - aside from purely economic ones, which are no-brainers. We must see this ban as a blessing, an opportunity to free Canada from unnecessary dependencies & thus pave the way for modern, streamlined, sustainable technologies that don't involve destroying crucial wildlife ecosystems, disrespecting other life forms or polluting our environment.

I am asking that you immediately withdraw the WTO challenge against the EU & do everything in your power to put a final end to 'Canada's Shame', the Commercial Seal Hunt.

Sincerely,
Sarah Chesterman
Vancouver, BC