Just in time for Canada’s tax day, William Shatner has news for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper: He’s living in deep space if he thinks the annual seal slaughter is fiscally responsible. In a letter to the prime minister, Canadian-born Shatner says, “Not only is it cruel to bludgeon and shoot thousands of seals every year, the slaughter also costs taxpayers millions more to support than it actually earns.”
Canada spends millions of dollars in taxpayer money propping up the commercial seal slaughter, even though income from the massacre accounts for less than 1 percent of Newfoundland’s economy. A study in 2010 at Canada’s University of Guelph found that ending the slaughter would save Canada at least $7 million each year.
Why does the slaughter continue? As Shatner puts it, “At a time of massive budget cuts in Canada, when many Canadians are struggling just to pay their bills, the government continues to defend this dying industry because both the conservative and liberal parties crave the region’s seven swing seats in Parliament.”
Please e-mail Prime Minister Harper and ask him to “boldly go where no man has gone before” and put an end to the unprofitable, barbaric seal slaughter immediately.
