In a truly bizarre scene, Royal Governor General Michaelle Jean, the representative of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as Canada’s head of state, protested restrictions on seal products by eating the raw heart of a dead seal. It is moments like these that one wonders whether a strong letter and signed picture might have sufficed.
Governor General Michaelle Jean was upset with a vote by the European Union earlier this month to impose a ban on seal products do to the cruel slaughter of the animals. While she did not say that it tasted like chicken, she did comment that it was yummy after personally carving out meat from the dead seal. Given the fact that this is a purely symbolic office, one wonders how the English government will react to its governor engaging in such carnivorous protests. The good governor appears to have watched the same scene in Dances with Wolves from the buffalo hunt, here.
The new EU rule allows exemptions for the Inuit communities from Canada, Greenland and other nations that can continue traditional hunts. Next, Jean will attempt to eat the still beating heart of an EU commissioner.
Previously, Canada’s parliament voted to have seal products made part of the nation’s Olympic uniforms.
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wow you must really know the law!!!!!
but me thats a bit different, it asbeen my understanding that until a PROPOSED REGULATION has been ENACTED IT IS JUST THAT> IT HAS NO TEETH . the PROPOSED regulation must be by convention regularly enacted, it can be completely obliterated revised or whatever is wanted to be done to it. I only have pity for he students who are graduates of the school you teach at.
And Commoner, the Governor-General’s ceremony she participated in did not club the seal. They caught it, killed it, and ate it in traditional Inuit fashion for the ceremony. As the post says, there’s even exemptions in the EU law for Inuit hunting.
“Would you please enlighten me to what this means?”
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Basically, it mostly stems from the King-Byng crisis of 1925.
Canada got independence in 1867, and from then until 1925, the Governor-General remained Britain’s representative, but never interfered in Canadian affairs.
In September 1925, Prime Minister Mackenzie King held an election. His Liberal Party got 100 seats, the Conservatives got 115, and the Progressives got 22. King became Prime Minister by gaining the support of the Progressives. But Governor-General Byng made an agreement saying that King couldn’t dissolve Parliament to call an election (there is no fixed-election date here).
After a bunch of scandals, there was going to be a confidence vote that the Liberals knew they would lose (if a government loses a confidence vote then government is dissolved) so King asked Byng to dissolve Parliament and call an election.
Byng refused, citing their agreement and saying the Conservatives who had more seats should be allowed to try governing. So King resigned, Conservative Arthur Meighen became P.M., then a little bit later lost a confidence vote and there was an election.
Mackenzie King basically made the whole election about Canadian sovereignty and how the Governor-General shouldn’t interfere. When he won a majority government, at the Imperial Conference with Britain they stripped the G.G. of actual links to Britain. The British Ambassador replaced the G.G. as Britain’s emissary.
Since 1925, no Governor-General has ever refused a Prime Minister’s request, and none of them have any real links to England.
Sorry that was long but I hope it was a good summary.
the youtube vids of how they kill the seals are horrifying. they club them to death, often needing more than one blow to kill. hearing the screaming of baby seals is soul shattering.
kstar35 1, May 27, 2009 at 7:51 pm
…. And England has no say over what she actually does. Since the 1920’s, the governor-general has never disobeyed the prime minister. Or shown any independence or acquiescence to Britain.
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Would you please enlighten me to what this means?
I’m not sure where you got the Royal from. The title’s just Governor-General. And she’s not royalty, or even British. And England has no say over what she actually does. Since the 1920’s, the governor-general has never disobeyed the prime minister. Or shown any independence or acquiescence to Britain.
Buddha Is Laughing
[Cheneys heart} “… I think it’s either still in an undisclosed location or Lucifer prefers to hold on to contract collateral himself until His Dark Majesty’s accounts are ripe for service.”
🙂
Perfect. Just perfect.
“We don’t bother much about dress and manners in England, because as a nation we don’t dress well and we’ve no manners.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), “You Never Can Tell” (1898), act I “
Isn’t this sort of something one would expect Sarah Palin to do?
Buddha Is Laughing 1, May 27, 2009 at 7:49 am
I vow to eat the heart of Dick Cheney in protest of what has been done to the Constitution . . .
And if you do that according to tribesman law, you will be our new leader.
Good to see you back.
I think she’s my new hero.
I vow to eat the heart of Dick Cheney in protest of what has been done to the Constitution . . . provided it can be found. I think it’s either still in an undisclosed location or Lucifer prefers to hold on to contract collateral himself until His Dark Majesty’s accounts are ripe for service.
Sounds good.
Every time you think you’ve heard just about everything….
I’ll bet the Queen is really proud.