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IQALUIT - After years of debate in committees, the European Union's parliament voted May 5 to outlaw almost all seal product imports, to the frustration of Inuit and other Canadians who rely on seal hunting.

The ban passed by a vote of 550 to 49.

Mary Simon: Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president says effect of EU ban will be devastating to seal harvesters. - NNSL file photo

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon accused animal rights activists of spreading "misinformation" about seal hunting to the European public.

"The strange thing about their campaign is that they focus on wildlife but they don't focus on domestic animals that are slaughtered under very inhumane conditions," said Simon. "They are very selective in that they target special groups."

She anticipated the economic impact on Inuit seal harvesters would be "devastating."

"This has huge implications for the North," stated Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq in a press release. "As a Northerner, this issue is near and dear to my heart. I come from an area called Netsilingmiut, also known as the people of the seal. Hunting seal is a way of life. They are valuable sources of food, fuel, shelter and clothing. They also provide income for Inuit who live in communities that have high unemployment.

"Our government has made and will continue to make every effort to persuade the European Union to reverse its stand on this issue."

Although the legislation includes an exemption for Inuit traditional harvesting, many in Nunavut argue the imminent collapse of the market will pull Nunavut's industry down with it.

"How, logistically, would you know a skin from Newfoundland or Labrador or Nunavut?" asked Nunavut's fisheries and sealing director Wayne Lynch. "It's difficult to trace an exact skin."

During its debate over anti-sealing legislation the EU considered a system of labels to certify humane sealing. That proposal was rejected over concerns that public opinion in Europe would prefer an outright ban.

Sealskin fashion designer Aaju Peter was in Strasbourg, France, home of the European Parliament, during the crucial vote.

She said many of the European politicians she talked to thought Inuit were happy with the cultural exemption, and were surprised when she said public opinion among Canadian Inuit was against it.

Peter said she was disappointed but not surprised by the vote's outcome. She said one parliamentarian she had talked to earlier had advocated the labelling system, but when that failed, she was going to have to vote in favour of the ban as it was the wish of her constituents and an EU election is coming up this June.

The ban still has to be approved by the European Council before it becomes final.

Nunavut's Minister of Environment Dan Shewchuk said the seal market had been affected ever since Europe started considering the ban.

The auction house that sells Nunavut's sealskins is sitting on 11,000 unsold skins. Nunavut harvests roughly 35,000 sealskins per year, of which 4,000 to 10,000 are exported commercially.

Shewchuck said the Government of Nunavut is buying some of those skins back from the auction house for use in government agencies such as Arctic College. Individual Nunavummiut will also be able to buy the skins from the auction house and the government will subsidise the freight costs from North Bay, Ont.

In a press release, federal Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day said Canada may challenge Europe's ban under international trade laws.