That woman has heart - Editorial Notebook

The underpinnings of the Canadian economy are in imminent danger of collapse.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has organized a boycott designed to deal a mortal blow to this country’s economic health – this country where people kill seals.

Brace yourselves, fellow Canadians, and cover your eyes lest you be forced to view the pathetic sight of naked pancakes and waffles. Maple syrup, that propellant of the Canadian fiscal machine, is the chosen substance.

“You can help end the seal slaughter by boycotting a product that is vital to the country’s economy: Canadian maple syrup,” proclaims PETA in a May 26 news release.

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As Canadians, let us hasten to recognize the virtues and value of Canadian maple syrup production. It’s important, (worth $213 million annually), it’s renowned (exported to about 45 countries) and it’s part of the country’s historical, cultural and culinary identity.

But the bedrock of Canada’s economy, it is not.

A successful boycott of this sweet product would leave a bitter taste in all our mouths but we could probably still manage to tally an attractive GDP.

The boycott exhortation came just one day after Canadian governor general Michaelle Jean cut open a seal and ate a portion of the heart in an Inuit ceremony at Rankin Inlet.

It was an impressive show of support for a culture and a traditional way of life in which seals are important. Jean is quite clearly a GG of a different ilk. More power to her.

Eating a piece of raw seal heart to prove a point put us in mind here at the Producer of a former staffer who spent time in Australia.

She found life on a cattle station to be chauvinistic. She was constantly referred to as a “sheila,” a female too weak and squeamish to handle the tough and manly jobs of cattle production – jobs she had done without hitch or qualm on the cattle ranch back in Canada.

So when it came time to make a point, amid taunts and dares during branding, vaccinating and castration of the calves, she used her teeth to complete one bull’s transition to steerhood.

She wasn’t called “sheila” after that.

It was an impressive story when she told it to those of us agog at the idea, but nevertheless, it is not something to which other Producer staffers aspire, so far as I know.

However, there’s something to be said for acting boldly to defend your own honour and even more to be said, as in our governor general’s case, for defending the traditions of a Canadian culture.

That woman has heart.