McCartney sings blues as seal hunt kicks off today

CHARLOTTETOWN -- Rock star Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather, have issued another appeal for Canada to end the East Coat seal hunt. The plea came as hunters and protesters prepare to head out onto the ice for the start of the annual slaughter today. Animal rights groups, led by the Humane Society of the U.S., continued their anti-hunt campaigns yesterday by warning that global boycotts against Canadian seafood are taking hold and costing the nation both money and respect. "People all around the world are boycotting Canadian seafood until the seal hunt is ended for good," music legend Paul McCartney said in a video message from London that was released in Charlottetown. "Already that seafood boycott has cost Canada many times more than what the seal hunt brings in." The former Beatle and his wife, Heather, appealed to the federal government to end the hunt by implementing a licence buy-back program for hunters. Prime Minister Stephen Harper quickly dismissed the McCartney's comments"Unfortunately, we're to some degree the victim of a bit of an international propaganda campaign," Harper said during a visit to Moncton, N.B. "We believe the country is acting responsibly."
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/03/25/1504880-sun.html