Sir Paul, You're Wrong!!

I watched that square-off between the McCartneys and Premier Danny Williams last night on CNN.

Here is what I think:

- Heather Mills McCartney was very annoying, as she kept interrupting Premier Williams and not allowing the Premier to finish his lines.

- The McCartneys kept saying that they are in NF&L (when Danny said that he'd like to invite them to come to NF&L), but the fact was they were in PEI. Seems to me that the McCartneys cannot even distinguish between the provinces of PEI and NF&L. They kept claiming that they are in NF&L, but the fact is they are in PEI.

- Premier Williams was too polite. However, he delivered his messages.

- The McCartneys are ignoring legitimate facts and arguments that were against their agenda (i.e. studies and reports by other environmental organizations - that approved the Canadian seal hunt is humane.)

- The Premier made a good point when he was saying that ALL KILLINGS are brutal, including slaughtering cows, pigs, and chickens. It has no difference in the seal hunt.

- The McCartneys do not realize that there were not only fur can be sold in markets from the seal hunt, but there are also other by-products (i.e. fat, meat, and other items). It is not ONLY just for the fur. Also, the McCartneys failed to acknowledge that hunting white-coated baby seal is illegal.

- The McCartneys failed to acknowledge that the seal hunt is sustainable.

I guess Danny wasn't ready to play rough with the McCartneys. I have to say that Sir Paul was very polite, but I am sure that he was also "confused" by his own arguments from time to time, as he was clearly mis-informed about the situation.

And you can tell that Danny was trying to ignore Mills by kept addressing to Paul instead of to Heather, but she just kept jumping all over Danny. The strategy was good (by only debating Paul and ignoring Heather after she started getting aggressive. Also, the big name is Paul McCartney - not Heather Mills McCartney. Besides, Danny would have looked very bad if he got into a yelling match against a blonde woman on Larry King Live.)

A copy of the transcript of the debate can be retrieved here.

Anyhow, this is for fun. Very addictive!!

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Premier faces off against ex-Beatle

JANE ARMSTRONG

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

March 04, 2006

St. John's — The noisy, emotion-filled voices on the Larry King Live show last night came from Canada of all places, where the topic on the popular CNN show turned to baby harp seals.

Paul McCartney, superstar ex-Beatle, billionaire and vociferous vegan, squared off against Danny Williams, the fast-talking millionaire premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and staunch defender of his province's three-century old practice of hunting seals each spring.

Wearing a beige sweatshirt with "Canada" emblazoned on the front, Sir Paul called the annual seal hunt a "brutal" practice. His wife Heather said the baby seals are "clubbed to death" before they ever get a chance to swim.

"I think it's a cruel practice that should be ended," Sir Paul told Mr. King, adding that he's been disturbed by the hunt for more than four decades.

The couple spoke to the talk show host from Charlottetown.

However, Mr. Williams, an admitted Beatles fan, emerged from a St. John's television studio last night looking like a prize fighter who scored a knockout.

"It was a wonderful experience," Mr. Williams told reporters after the early evening taping. He said Mr. King was "very fair," although he thought Sir Paul and Lady McCartney cut him off too frequently. He added that both are misinformed about the seal hunt.

The premier agreed to appear on the talk show, which has an audience of nearly 60 million worldwide, because he was "peeved" at the succession of international superstars who traipse to Canada's East Coast every couple of years to protest against the annual seal hunt.

The hunt so reviled by animal activists, he argued, is a legal, humane practice -- not unlike a slaughterhouse -- that employs about 5,000 Newfoundlanders.

Sir Paul and Lady McCartney arrived in Canada earlier this week to protest against the hunt, which the pop star described as "stain on the Canadian people."

The couple flew to St. John's, then Charlottetown and later travelled by small plane to an ice pan north of the Iles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to watch the seal pups close up.

Sir Paul said the scene on the ice was wondrous. "It's a fantastic spectacle. It's a beautiful, wildlife spectacle. And it's the kind of thing that people should just respect and love."

However, he added: "It was terrifying to think that in probably three weeks time, the sealers will arrive with clubs and pick axes and with guns and will kill a huge amount of these baby seals."

Ms. McCartney said the couple researched the issue before arriving in Canada and concluded that Canadian sealers can earn a living in other ways.

Mr. Williams and scores of other East Coast fishermen would disagree. Most seal hunters are fishermen looking to subsidize their incomes in the off season.

Mr. Williams said he believes the couple zeroed in on the seal industry because it's not powerful and, unlike chickens and cows, seals are highly photogenic.

"They target us because we're a smaller province, it's a small industry. They're not going to take on the beef industry. The seal pup makes a great photo op."

Mr. Williams said the show ended with the McCartneys urging Canada to end the seal hunt, noting that international boycotts have hurt sales. Mr. Williams replied that the boycott is based on faulty information. However, he invited the couple to visit Newfoundland.

During their trip this week to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the McCartneys were photographed alongside a white-coated baby seal, which, Mr. Williams noted, are illegal to hunt.

The Newfoundland Premier said he respects the ex-Beatle and loves his music, but believes the couple are misinformed.

"There are a lot of Beatles fans in Newfoundland and Labrador, but to see them come in as international superstars and see them be used to promote something that is incorrect, then it is incumbent on the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada ..... to counteract the information."

When CNN called the Premier's office Thursday, Mr. Williams jumped at the chance to debate.

"I see this as a tremendous opportunity. I asked for a private meeting with Paul McCartney. I have one now with approximately 50 to 60 million people in the room with us."

The debate did not change anyone's mind, he said.

"Mr. and Mrs. McCartney are vegans," Mr. Williams said. "And what they stand for is the complete elimination of the killing of anything that is breathing."

Sir Paul is following in the footsteps of other international celebrities who have come to Canada tow to protest against the seal hunt, including Brigitte Bardot Pamela Anderson.

Sealing in Canada dates to the 1700s and is worth an estimated $20-million annually.

In the late 1970s, the European Community banned the importation of white-coat pelts.

In 2003, Ottawa introduced a three-year management plan allowing for 975,000 seals to be hunted.

Mr. Williams said the seal hunt is supervised and regulations are enforced.

Newfoundland has between 4,000 to 5,0000 sealers. Earnings from the annual seal hunt, which begins in March, comprise nearly 30 per cent of their annual incomes.

© Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.