Morrissey has been ‘brainwashed’ says Canada’s fisheries minister
Canada’s fisheries minister has called Morrissey “brainwashed” following the singer’s recent criticism of the annual seal hunt. Claiming that Morrissey is “looking for a popularity boost”, Gail Shea insisted the controversial cull is a “well-regulated” process that targets “a plentiful and sustainable resource”.
“Mr Morrissey and his Hollywood buddies have been brainwashed by decades of propaganda from fringe animal rights groups and radical environmentalists,” Shea wrote in a letter to Canada.com. “They should take the time to actually consider the facts, or talk to the people whose lives are affected by the seal hunt … but that might be too difficult to do from the ivory towers of Hollywood.”
Morrissey’s statement on the seal cull, published last Friday, is only his latest barrage against the “greedy and barbaric … slaughter” of seals. An ardent supporter of animal rights, the former Smiths singer has not performed in Canada since 2004. “I fully realise that the absence of any Morrissey concerts in Canada is unlikely to bring the Canadian economy to its knees,” he said in 2006, “but it is our small protest against this horrific slaughter.”
In his most recent remarks, Morrissey singled out Shea’s support for the seal hunt and her claim that it is a “humane” cull. “If she considers such butchery to be so ‘humane’, why doesn’t she place herself amongst the tens of thousands of grey-coated harp seals that will be slaughtered within the next few weeks?” he wrote. “She could then test the humane aspect of having her head blown off for herself. Only then could she be thought to speak with any authority on the subject.”
“Since Brigitte Bardot in the 1980s, hard-working sealers in rural communities have had to deal with foreign millionaires telling them how they should live their lives,” Shea replied. “[Morrissey is] attacking the livelihoods of people who live off the bounty of the land instead of living off record sales or TV ratings.”
Source: The Guardian
