One local businesswoman says it’s time to call a spade a spade, and for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to fight back against the hypocrisy of the pending European Union ban on seal products.

In fact, it would be nice if Canadians had this province’s back too, says Donna Thistle.
The owner of Gitanos restaurant in Corner Brook has removed imported European wine, the product which had accounted for more than 80 per cent of her wine list, from the menu. She also got rid of the imported beers from those countries.

One could consider it a bold move, given the desire of most connoisseurs for beverages from countries like France and Italy,  but a calculated one indeed. Thistle has done so because of the ban on seal products — which still has to be approved by the European Commission and Council. If an entire body of nations can embargo a product, than a restaurant can answer back with one of its own.

However, this is not about whether one is for or against the controversial seal hunt, but the hypocrisy clouding the decision to ban such products in those European countries, said the restaurant owner.

“The problem is, we are a soft target for the animal welfare groups because we don’t do anything about it,” Thistle said. “We just talk about it here in Newfoundland. We whine, we bitch and we complain. We get emotional about it, whether people are for or against the seal hunt, but that’s horse crap.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are for or against anything. What matters is you are true to it, not a hypocrite. I don’t understand what right they could possibly have to make such a decision.”

Thistle cited a number of facts she gathered from a recent article in The Economist to back up her claims of the hypocrisy shown by these European politicians and the animal rights activists so opposed to the hunt in this province.

She said white coats are still the face of the seal hunt opposition, despite the fact none of them are killed in the annual harvest here. Every four or five days, more animals are killed in Europe for their fur than the entire annual seal hunt, she said. Europe produces 30 million mink and fox pelts a year and a million sheep, pigs and cattle are slaughtered every day for food, and she said there is no ban on their own hunting of defenceless animals such as birds and deer.

To further point out the hypocrisy, Thistle said the same European Parliament voted against closing a loophole that allows the throats of sheep to be slit while they are living, because of religious reasons, in France.

On top of it all, Europe has its own seal hunt that kills 25,000 seals a year for “management practices” of fish stocks, Thistle said.

While Thistle believes the province doesn’t hold much clout in the grand scheme of things to fight back, a united front against a product like wine would make an impact. She not only encourages others to do the same, but recommends it. She even suggested it may be something the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation should do, even if it is something just temporary to make the point.

At Gitanos, outside of one regular customer who thought she may be opening a can of worms she didn’t want to, Thistle said the reception has been a healthy one thus far.
“A lot of people just stop and think about it, and the more politically aware people know exactly what it means,” she said. “A lot of people are saying, ‘good for you’ and giving us the thumbs up.”

In fact, she said the move has led to the discovery of some really good beer and wine from other parts of the world and here in Canada — something she said local businesses should do more of anyway.

“At some point, any population has to stand up for what it believes in,” she said. “If other countries can just make arbitrary decisions on things that effect our economy, why can’t we make arbitrary decisions on things that affect their economy.”