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IQALUIT - Nunavut's former premier says the government is doing little to stop the proposed seal ban that is before the European Union.

Paul Okalik, member for Iqaluit West, questioned the premier as to why it took a week for the government to provide a response paper after the EU announced their intentions to implement the ban, which will go to a vote in the European Parliament April 1.

Former premier Paul Okalik criticized the premier and the minister of Environment for not taking meaningful action to stop the proposed EU seal ban. - Carolyn Sloan/NNSL photo

"All Inuit residents oppose this ban, so why did it take a week to produce a single page?" he asked through a translator at the March 17 sitting of the legislative assembly. "April 1 is just a couple of weeks away and the best our government can do is send staff to Europe to defend our interests?

"I find it unbelievable as it reveals a lack of credibility on our government's part."

The question was later passed to Daniel Shewchuk, minister of Environment.

"We have been part of a delegation of Canada to attend two meetings in Europe…that my deputy minister attended, in cohesion with Canada, to explain and educate the European Union on how important the sealing industry is in Canada," Shewchuk responded.

The following day, he argued the government had done all it could to address the issue for the time being.

"We are waiting for this decision to come through because we have done what we feel is everything we can up to this point," said Shewchuk.

Okalik later suggested the minister did not have the experience or the cultural background to represent Inuit on the sealing issue.

He was called on a point of order after questioning how long Shewchuk had resided in Nunavut.

"How can the minister explain how important the sealing issues are to Nunavummiut without using his personal experiences when debating these animal rights activists?" said Okalik through an interpreter.

"We have Inuit ministers that are able to understand what Inuit have gone through and when we hear about portfolios being distributed, we have to look at who should take those responsibilities," he later added in Inuktitut. "A minister was put into this environment position that isn't Inuk."