OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadians should wear sealskin to celebrate the country's birthday on July 1, an Inuit leader said on Friday, in defiance of a European movement to ban the import of Canadian seal products.
"I am quite tired of other people telling us how to liveour lives, without taking the time to learn about our cultureand way of life," National Inuit leader Mary Simon said.
"I am calling on Canadians who support us to get some sealclothing and wear it in a show of solidarity to Inuit and otherCanadian sealers on Canada Day."
Simon said she made the plea in response to plans by animalrights protesters to gather in Brussels and demand aprohibition on seal items like furs, skins and health products.
Protesters -- supported by celebrities like Paul McCartneyand Brigitte Bardot -- have long objected to the seal hunt forits cruelty. They've won widespread public opinion over theyears with graphic footage of young seal pups being bludgeonedto death on the ice.
Canada's assurances this year that it would impose newrules to ensure the animals are killed more humanely has donelittle to dampen the protests.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper defends the seal hunt as atraditional way of life among Canada's aboriginal peoples and aan important source of income for many small communities alongthe Atlantic Coast.
"Sealing is still important to the Inuit economy in 2008,"said Simon, who wore a sealskin vest at a public event earlierthis month.
"It angers me that animal-rights protesters, ignorant ofand callous toward Inuit culture, are trying to take thataway."
(Reporting by Louise Egan; editing by Rob Wilson)
