Whale meat? What if it had been drugs?
Photo: Kristín Heiða
Canadian MP, Don Davies, is reportedly up in arms over the news that whale meat from Iceland transited twice through Canada on its way to Japan in the course of last year.
In a piece published on the Province news website, Don Davies points out that transporting and exporting whale meat is banned under Canadian law and calls upon the Canadian government to take its international obligations seriously and protect endangered species, such as fin whales. In Davies’ view, most Canadians would be appalled to find out that their country was being used for the purposes of illegal trading in whale meat.
Whale meat on way to Japan
He cites two examples in 2014 of whale meat arriving from Iceland to Halifax, being transported across the country by train to Vancouver, then leaving for Japan.
The Canadian customs authorities have apparently told Davies that they did not feel able to stop the consignments in question as they had not undergone customs clearance in Canada. “But what if we were talking about heroin or cocaine instead of whale meat? I don’t imagine any public body would just say that nothing could been be done in that case,” Davies wonders.
The Province further reports that Davies brought this issue to the attention of the Canadian Trade Minister in parliament back in December but received no reply.
