Morrissey Fires Back at Fisheries Minister in Canadian Seal Hunt Debate

BY Josiah HughesPublished Apr 24, 2014

As anyone with even a passing knowledge of Morrissey knows, the artist is a living, breathing quote machine. And the only thing he hates more than biting his tongue is people who harm animals in any way. As such, he's had a back-and-forth spat with Canada's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea, and it looks as if he may have had the last word with a new statement.

It all started when Moz, as he's done many times before, criticized the Canadian seal hunt in a blog post where he called it "greedy and barbaric," as well as "regrettably, fashionably dead." Though it may have been ill-advised, a spokesperson for Shea responded, attempting to reason with Morrissey in a statement of her own.

Never one to back down from an animal rights fight, Morrissey has shared a new statement, calling Shea "desperate" and suggesting she was "someone of imperious ignorance, who cannot develop the moral debate, and whose own personal financial agenda comes before the lives of thousands of healthy beings"

There's much, much more, but rather than try to paraphrase the power of a Morrissey rant we'll just let you read the whole thing below.

There was something more than slightly desperate in Gail Shea referring to my recent comments on the annual Canadian seal slaughter as "ignorant", as reported in Canada's National Post.

Speaking on behalf of Gail Shea, Sophie Doucet—showing symptoms of the same Shea disorder—stated: "I would urge Mr. Morrissey to consider the impact that his ignorant and inflammatory statements have on the livelihoods of thousands of hard-working men and women in rural communities".

I should remind Sophie Doucet that building and maintaining the Concentration Camps of Auschwitz also provided livelihoods, but this hardly made the Camps warranted. Let it also be added that the vast financial benefits of the seal slaughter are
not directly intended for those hard-working men and women in rural communities, who, in fact, are merely used by the Fisheries Minister to do the messy task of searing flesh.

Further, Sophie Doucet's shrill tension claims that my anger against Canada's carnival of death: " ... is clearly just another case of a millionaire celebrity, desperate for a hobby". 

I can assure Sophie Doucet that I know more about the seal hunt than I wish to know, and only by suppression of humanity could anyone look away and not care. Also, whether a challenge comes from a millionaire or from someone who is homeless is a remark that would only be made by someone of imperious ignorance, who cannot develop the moral debate, and whose own personal financial agenda comes before the lives of thousands of healthy beings.

More importantly, Gail Shea is so constantly absorbed by challenges and counterchallenges of her actions and beliefs that we must wonder why it has not yet occurred to her that she might be doing something wrong. The answer, as it usually is, would be the impossibly constricted mania for financial profit - at any price.

In Western culture, there is no acceptance of the Canadian seal slaughter, and simply because someone bears the badge of Minister does not insulate them from being a disreputable thug. Murder is not debatable, and the people of Canada must speak up and stop this carnage in order to restore the global image of their country. As ever and as always, it is always up to the people to put things right.


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