FREDERICTON - The European Commission's ambassador to Canada says it is extremely difficult to keep emotion out of the debate over the seal hunt.
Dorian Prince says the commission soon will make a final recommendation about a possible Europe-wide ban on seal products -- a decision that could strike a devastating blow to Canada's annual East Coast seal hunt.
Prince says people in Europe live largely in urban centres and are out of touch with the realities of life in communities that depend on hunting and fishing.
Nevertheless, Prince says the commission will put forward a recommendation based on scientific facts about the seal hunt, not emotion.
Rebecca Aldworth of the International Humane Society, an animal protection group, says she is optimistic the European Parliament will decide in favour of a union-wide ban on seal products.
A number of countries have already banned seal products, including Belgium and the Netherlands, and several more European nations are taking steps to implement bans.
