Re: the “political cartoon” by Wyatt (Yukon News, Dec. 4).
To put it lightly, the “character and script” of the submission was gross, wrong, and completely unacceptable. It showed clear ignorance of an issue of national importance and did so in a degrading and utterly disrespectful manner.
What did it show? The cartoon (and I use that description with caution) depicted the premier of the Yukon, waist-deep in blood wearing a seal tie with a baby seal at the end of the tie, dripping blood.
The premier holds the highest elected office in our territory, and has earned a measure of respect far greater than that provided in this ridiculous depiction that is neither funny, nor art, and is, to say the least, a long way from the view point of Canadians or the reality of the Canadian seal hunt.
Facts: The motion tabled in the Yukon legislature supporting the Canadian seal industry passed unanimously - meaning all parties in the legislature supported it.
Furthermore, the outlandish comment that accompanies Wyatt’s abomination suggests, wrongly, that Canada allows the killing of white coat (baby) seals. Canada does not allow the harvest of baby seals and hasn’t since the 1980s.
The seal hunt in Canada is, in many cases, the only viable source of income for our aboriginal and Inuit people living in the Canadian Arctic. It is an ethical, humane, sustainable, and intensely monitored activity.
Wyatt, an ex-patriot of the Yukon, owes our premier, our aboriginal and Inuit populations who depend on the seal hunt as a way of life and tradition, members of the Yukon legislature who collectively supported the recent motion, and indeed all Canadians who have to fight against the radical and extreme propaganda that continues to hurt Canadian sealers from abroad an apology.
I urge editor John Thompson to pull this cartoon from his online paper and censor this kind of disrespectful submission to the News. I also call on the leader of the NDP, Liz Hansen, and the leader of the Liberal Party, Sandy Silver, to take a stand on this deeply disturbing “characterization” and attack on the office of the premier.
Ryan Leef
MP, Yukon