Donovan.
15-06-2008, 07:29:AM
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2006/05/16/pe-hearn-apology-20060516.html
heck I know its from 2006 but these things are so rare its worth holding onto them like natural treasures. Apparently the day this happened the temperature in hell fell by 40 degrees C and monkeys were discovered with what appeared to be partly formed wings actually inside his butt!
Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn has apologized for comments he made in March, in which he said observers had been charged following an incident at the seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Hearn issued the brief statement Monday, almost two weeks after the Humane Society of the United States had said it was prepared to sue him for libel.
FROM MAY 4, 2006: Apologize or get sued, activists tell Hearn (http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf-hearn-suit-20060504.html)
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/PEI/photos/po_loyolahearn_20060214.jpg
Loyola Hearn's apology comes two weeks after the threat of a libel suit by the Humane Society of the United States
"On March 31, 2006, I made a statement suggesting that individuals had been arrested and charged in relation to their observation of the seal hunt," Hearn's statement read. "Arrests had indeed been made, but I have since learned that no charges were laid. I apologize for suggesting that charges had been laid."
Hearn made the comments when he was asked to respond to calls from politicians and union officials to bar animal rights activists from the East Coast hunt.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/PEI/photos/po_rebeccaaldworth.gif
Rebecca Aldworth says the apology may not be enough to prevent a lawsuit
Hearn said Canada cannot be seen as having something to hide at the hunt, but remarked that he would not issue observer permits to people who had been involved in a skirmish with sealers. "If you step over that line and try to interfere in any way with the hunt, then you can be arrested and charged, as people were last week," Hearn said in the statement that drew fire from the HSUS.
Hearn's office said the minister would not comment further on his apology.
FROM CBC ARCHIVES: Pelts, Pups and Protest: The Atlantic Seal Hunt (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-986/politics_economy/seal_hunt/)
Rebecca Aldworth, Canadian issues director for HSUS, said Hearn's apology was "positive" but may not necessarily prevent a lawsuit from proceeding.
"We're evaluating today whether or not that statement will be sufficient for us to drop the lawsuit that we were planning to wage against the minister of fisheries," Aldworth said Tuesday.
"If you read the minister's comments at the time, you would have assumed all those things [were true].
"I'm glad that the minister has admitted that he was wrong, and what this tells me is that the minister tends to act without all the information."
Aldworth said five of the seven members of an HSUS contingent, including a journalist from the Reuters news agency, had been arrested off the Magdalen Islands in March because they held foreign passports. All were processed for identification purposes and were quickly released.
Fisheries officers said they had violated the rules of the hunt, which require observers to keep at least 10 metres from sealers.
"It was a technical violation, if at all," Aldworth said.
Aldworth could not obtain an observer's permit for the remainder of the Canadian seal hunt, including the primary hunt off the northern coast of Newfoundland. She said she expects no trouble in obtaining an observer's permit next year.
heck I know its from 2006 but these things are so rare its worth holding onto them like natural treasures. Apparently the day this happened the temperature in hell fell by 40 degrees C and monkeys were discovered with what appeared to be partly formed wings actually inside his butt!
Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn has apologized for comments he made in March, in which he said observers had been charged following an incident at the seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Hearn issued the brief statement Monday, almost two weeks after the Humane Society of the United States had said it was prepared to sue him for libel.
FROM MAY 4, 2006: Apologize or get sued, activists tell Hearn (http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf-hearn-suit-20060504.html)
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/PEI/photos/po_loyolahearn_20060214.jpg
Loyola Hearn's apology comes two weeks after the threat of a libel suit by the Humane Society of the United States
"On March 31, 2006, I made a statement suggesting that individuals had been arrested and charged in relation to their observation of the seal hunt," Hearn's statement read. "Arrests had indeed been made, but I have since learned that no charges were laid. I apologize for suggesting that charges had been laid."
Hearn made the comments when he was asked to respond to calls from politicians and union officials to bar animal rights activists from the East Coast hunt.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/PEI/photos/po_rebeccaaldworth.gif
Rebecca Aldworth says the apology may not be enough to prevent a lawsuit
Hearn said Canada cannot be seen as having something to hide at the hunt, but remarked that he would not issue observer permits to people who had been involved in a skirmish with sealers. "If you step over that line and try to interfere in any way with the hunt, then you can be arrested and charged, as people were last week," Hearn said in the statement that drew fire from the HSUS.
Hearn's office said the minister would not comment further on his apology.
FROM CBC ARCHIVES: Pelts, Pups and Protest: The Atlantic Seal Hunt (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-986/politics_economy/seal_hunt/)
Rebecca Aldworth, Canadian issues director for HSUS, said Hearn's apology was "positive" but may not necessarily prevent a lawsuit from proceeding.
"We're evaluating today whether or not that statement will be sufficient for us to drop the lawsuit that we were planning to wage against the minister of fisheries," Aldworth said Tuesday.
"If you read the minister's comments at the time, you would have assumed all those things [were true].
"I'm glad that the minister has admitted that he was wrong, and what this tells me is that the minister tends to act without all the information."
Aldworth said five of the seven members of an HSUS contingent, including a journalist from the Reuters news agency, had been arrested off the Magdalen Islands in March because they held foreign passports. All were processed for identification purposes and were quickly released.
Fisheries officers said they had violated the rules of the hunt, which require observers to keep at least 10 metres from sealers.
"It was a technical violation, if at all," Aldworth said.
Aldworth could not obtain an observer's permit for the remainder of the Canadian seal hunt, including the primary hunt off the northern coast of Newfoundland. She said she expects no trouble in obtaining an observer's permit next year.