You know that the Vancouver Aquarium has been lobbying hard against Senate Bill S-203 to end whale captivity. Recently the Aquarium invited 35 Conservative Senators to watch whales in captivity and to lobby them to vote against Bill S-203, Well, Marineland in Ontario did the same ... but Marineland managed to hook a Conservative Senator who is now the official mouthpiece of the pro-whale captivity lobby at the Canadian Senate. The good news is that not ALL Conservative Senators support the cruel practice of keeping whales in captivity, and we are hopeful that this Senate Bill will be adopted and so it will become a criminal offence in Canada to keep, breed and trade whales and dolphins. CANADIANS, PLEASE SUPPORT SENATE BILL S-203 AND SIGN THE PARLIAMENT PETITION TO END WHALE CAPTIVITY IN CANADA: https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petition/Details… ============================================ NEWSARTICLE: (Canadian) IPOLITICS - June 7, 2016 Plett trolling animal rights activists Tory senator takes to Twitter to proclaim love for Marineland Conservative Senator Don Plett has made it clear that he’s not a fan of a bill that would make whale, dolphin and porpoise captivity illegal and is revelling in his opposition to it, trolling animal rights activists on Twitter and proclaiming his love for Marineland. Liberal Senator Wilfred Moore introduced legislation last June that would phase out the controversial practice of keeping whales, dolphins and porpoises in captivity — which is happening now in two parks in Canada — Marineland in Niagara Falls has one orca, five dolphins and around 50 beluga whales, and the Vancouver Aquarium holds harbour porpoises, beluga whales, a false killer whale and a Pacific white-sided dolphin. Plett has been very vocal about his opposition to the bill. In a speech he delivered during a debate to amend the bill, he said “Colleagues, I am unable to support this proposed legislation. This bill is fundamentally flawed, constitutionally suspect, contrary to over 100 years of environmental legislation and policy, scientifically unsound, contrary to public interest and bad for the economy.” Last night, Plett went one step further by proclaiming his support for Marineland on Twitter. First, Plett tweeted that he had a fantastic tour of Marineland, and praised its “fantastic facilities.” Shortly after, the Tweet disappeared on his account. Phil Demers, a former head trainer at Marineland, who became a whistleblower, screencaptured his Tweet and tweeted, “Just as Sen @DonPlett thought Marineland’s facilities were “impeccable”, he also thought he could delete this tweet.” Senator Moore said that if the evidence indicates that Marineland and the Vancouver Aquarium should keep whales and dolphins in captivity, including for entertainment, let’s hear their moral and scientific arguments. “I tabled the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in December of last year. Since then, Senator Plett has publicly expressed his desire to prevent Bill S-203 from proceeding to committee. He is now apparently lining up speakers in an attempt to delay the bill’s consideration beyond the summer recess,” said Moore in an email. Moore said that over 20 marine mammal biologists from around the world support Bill S-203 and the attempt to prevent S-203 from proceeding to committee seeks to suppress debate and scientific evidence on an issue of public concern, the keeping of whales and dolphins in captivity. “That is not what the Senate is about, and it is contrary to the public interest.” “I appreciate that Senator Plett has become a passionate advocate for whale captivity, and I ahope we hear his side’s moral and scientific arguments. However, the debate should be happening at committee, not on Twitter.” =================================================