NUNAVUT
With Canada poised to take chairmanship of the Arctic Council, a group calling for changes to the European Union (EU) ban on seal products is circulating a petition refusing to grant the union observer status on the council.
An online petition is collecting signatures until May 15 to block the European Union from Arctic Council observer status until it changes its ban on seal product import. - Ansgar Walk/Wikimedia Commons photo |
Karliin Arriak started the petition asking the federal government to deny all applications until the ban is overturned.
As of press deadline, the online petition had 406 supporters and just needed 94 more to meet its goal.
"As a citizen of Canada, a country that is a permanent member of the Arctic Council, I have developed a petition urging the House of Commons in Ottawa to refuse all applications for observer status to the Arctic Council from the European Union and any of its member states, institutions and organizations until such time as the EU completely terminates and lifts the seal ban it imposed in 2009," said Arriak.
A recent appeal led by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami was overturned on April 25 but that hasn't stopped the No Seal No Deal movement from picking up steam.
On May 9, Nunavut's legislative assembly passed a motion to officially oppose granting the EU permanent observer status on the Arctic Council.
The motion came a day after Environment Minister James Arreak said he applauded the efforts of different groups to try and overturn the ban.
"The EU seal ban is a senseless attack on Inuit culture and a threat to all forms of sustainable wildlife use," he said in the legislative assembly. "Despite the EU's assertion that the Inuit exemption to the ban protects Inuit, we know for a fact it does not."
Since the ban was imposed, sealskin revenues have dropped.
Nunavut ringed seal sales used to bring in more than $400,000 annually before the ban, according to a 2012 report by the Department of Environment. Since the ban, yearly revenue has fallen below $100,000.
On top of the cultural and traditional relevance of seal hunting, Arriak said the economic opportunities are needed in Nunavut.
While the paper petition deadline has passed, the online petition is open until May 15.
