[mr.x]

It's not an issue anymore:



Canadian Olympic Committee says no to seal skin uniforms

5 hours ago

OTTAWA (AFP) — Upset by an EU decision to ban seal products, Canadian parliamentarians have proposed that Canadian athletes wear uniforms made of seal pelts at the 2010 Winter Olympics, but Games organizers on Thursday rejected the idea.

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday to endorse a European Union ban on seal products in protest against commercial hunting methods, provoking anger in Canada and a possible pursuit of redress at the World Trade Organization.

Canadian lawmakers unanimously supported a motion late Wednesday in the House of Commons urging the Canadian Olympic Committee to make athletes' uniforms out of seal pelts and for the government to promote sealing at the Games in Vancouver.

In a statement, national Inuit president Mary Simon expressed support for the motion.

She noted that Olympic organizers had borrowed an Inuit symbol -- a stone marker called an Inukshuk -- for the Games and urged them to "follow-through and support Inuit all the way. That includes our culture, and our culture includes seal hunting!"

Chris Rudge, head of the Canadian Olympic Committee, however, immediately dismissed the idea, saying there would be no seal skins used in the making of uniforms.

"We respect the right of Canadians and its politicians to engage in such discussions, but it's not the role of the Olympic movement or of our Olympic team to take a position on social or political issues," he told AFP.

The Canadian government maintains that the 350-year-old seal hunt is crucial for some 6,000 North Atlantic fishermen who rely on it for up to 35 percent of their total annual income.