Paul McCartney’s tactics ‘inhumane’

Firstly, let me take this opportunity to congratulate Premier Danny Williams of Newfoundland for appearing on Larry King Live on CNN on March 3, and defending the seal hunt by the Newfoundlanders off the coast of Newfoundland. I thought he did rather well under what appeared to be very tough circumstances – millions of people watching in the United States and Europe and continuous whining by Heather McCartney. I think Sir McCartney and Heather have their priorities wrong.

I write this letter as someone who has fought the ‘Greenpeacers’ and animal rights activists to save the seals for the past 30 years, with people such as Peter Ittinuar, former MP, and William Anderson III, current president of the Labrador Inuit Association. I write it as someone who continues to hunt seals and other animals for living, and sharing what I catch with my fellow Inuit. This is the how, we Inuit survived since time immemorial. I ask my Member of the Legislative Assembly for Nunavut, the Honorable Ed Picco, to go all out and oppose the nonsense tactics of the McCartneys. They are inhumane! They will not have the same impact as Brigette Bardot did in the l970’s and 80’s. They will not find Inuit sitting back defenseless, and being intimidated by their tactics, this time. We can answer back now!

Seal hunting is a non-issue. It may make for cute photographs and give musicians and movies stars much needed publicity, but compared to what is really wrong with Nunarjuarput (our planet), it is a non-issue. The really important issue for all of us is climate change and global warming. I think Paul McCartney and his wife Heather should stop drawing attention to themselves and use their talents and resources to do something about climate change. They should team up with appropriate governments and Inuit Organizations to address this climate change and global warming.

Climate change is real. Glacial ice fields are melting in Greenland, the Canadians Arctic and the Rockies. The sea and lake ice is getting thinner all over Nunavut. There is less ice each summer for polar bears to hunt from. Let’s all do something to stop global warming and climate change. Otherwise, we are all going to be in serious trouble – including the seals and the McCartneys!

Peter Irniq
Iqaluit