"Not With Our Tax Dollars!", Saturday, March 14th, 2:30 pm

On Saturday, March 14th at 2:30 pm, Comox Valley residents are invited to
attend an important demonstration of opposition to the federal
government-sanctioned east coast commercial seal hunt. Other gatherings of
concerned citizens from coast to coast are scheduled to take place
simultaneously and throughout the weekend in order to send a strong message
of public will to Ottawa: "Not with Our Tax Dollars!"

In alliance with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Citizen
Support for Marine Mammal Protection (CSMMP) will be coordinating the
Courtenay event at Cliffe Ave. and the 17th Street Bridge.

"Senator Mac Harb made history on March 3rd by being the first Canadian
politician to propose legislation that would put an end to the commercial
seal hunt," says event co-coordinator, Mike Nestor. "There has never been a
more crucial time for all Canadians of conscience to declare their support
for an end to this largest remaining slaughter of marine mammals on the
planet."

Harb's private member's bill was introduced in the Senate on the same day
the European Parliament's internal market committee voted to strictly ban
trade in seal fur and all related products. Exemptions would apply to
traditional subsistence hunting for Inuit and other aboriginal communities,
but the Canadian government has vowed to fight any successful European-wide
ban.

"Our politicians continue to spend our tax dollars propping up this dying
industry in spite of dwindling markets for fashion furs," says Nestor. "And
in spite of international recognition that these defenseless animals
sometimes suffer under extremely brutal conditions."

"It is misleading to suggest that encouraging a switch from the use of
hakapiks to guns this year will ensure a reduction in suffering out on the
ice flows," adds CSMMP founder Fireweed. "Legal hunt observers have
documented seal pups not killed instantly by gunshot managing to escape in
agony to open waters where they drown."

If you'd rather Canadian tax payers' dollars went to license buy-backs and
retraining for jobs that could provide far less dangerous ways for out of
work fishers to subsidize their incomes, or simply want to make sure Mac
Harb's bill has the opportunity for eventual success in the Senate, CSMMP
hopes people will rise to the occasion and come on out to demonstrate on
Saturday.

For further information about the "Not With Our Tax Dollars!" campaign,
contact CSMMP at 250-335-1209.

-submitted by Fireweed and Michael Nestor

coordinators, Citizen Support for Marine Mammal Protection

Denman Island, BC