When Canada passed legislation to end the keeping of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) in captivity last year, the bill did not address pinnipeds (seals, fur seals, sea lions, and walruses) at all.
What does address all marine mammals is Nathalie Bibeau’s documentary movie, The Walrus and the Whistleblower, just given the top Audience Award at the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival. Watch it for free here.
The whistleblower is an impassioned former Marineland trainer, Phil Demers, who went from being contemptuous of those protesting against the treatment of animals at Marineland Niagara Falls to understanding, and ultimately endorsing, their point of view after bonding with Smooshi, a baby walrus. (See above a photo of Demers with Smooshi.)
Animal welfare often relies on the testimony of concerned whistleblowers like Mr. Demers, but the Ontario government is currently ramming through parliament an “ag gag” bill. The bill, similar to one already enacted in Alberta, and many others in the U.S., is solely designed to keep the public in the dark about the abuse of animals that provide Canadians with meat, dairy products, and leather. At a time when the need for whistleblowers seems most pressing, governments are contriving ways to stop them from speaking up.
Hiding from the truth is not in the public’s benefit. Ontario’s Bill 156, the “Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2019,” will not only facilitate abuse of animals unseen, but will, at a time when workers in food plants are dying from COVID-19, punish anyone with absurdly huge fines for simply exposing the truth society benefits from knowing. There are already laws against trespass never fully employed against “animal activists” exposing abuse, simply because the meat and dairy industry, no less than Marineland, does not want exposure of what might occur behind the scenes. But, what might occur can threaten us all, and our livelihoods.
We should not fear compassion; we should not fear oversight and transparency; we should not fear the truth. And, we should not be bullied by those do not value compassion, transparency, and truth.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry
