Seal meat was on the menu at Parliament Hill Wednesday, as the parliamentary restaurant offered hors-d'oeuvres and main courses made with the contentious ingredient.
Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette, who hosted the lunch, said it would allow politicians to show their support for seal hunters who have come under increasing scrutiny for their traditional practices.
The lunch was a "response to our European colleagues" who voted to ban the import of seal products last year, she told CTV News Channel in advance of the meal.
Speaking to the 18 invited guests during the lunch, Hervieux-Payette said the campaign against the hunt by animal-rights activists works by "spreading false information."
"Their campaign is misguided, mean-spirited and hurtful to many Canadian families. Unfortunately, this campaign led to the European Union adopting a ban on Canadian seal products," she said.
After trying some seal paté, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said it was "delicious actually ... a little gamey, like caribou or something."
The plan to serve seal meat in the exclusive parliamentary restaurant was hatched last November, when a number of MPs let executive chef Judson Simpson know that they had no qualms with seeing seal on the menu.
But not everybody was impressed by the addition.
Senator Mac Harb, who has introduced a bill to end Canada's seal hunt, said the issue needs to be considered seriously, not with stunt lunches.
"I would like to see the Senate or the Parliament of Canada debating this issue seriously. Not like what they did today, just eating seal meat," he told CTV's Power Play Wednesday night.
Harb also doubted the positive reviews the lunch was receiving from parliamentarians.
"I don't think they enjoyed it, despite what they are saying," he said.
PETA spokesperson Lindsay Rajt suggested that Canada's international reputation is suffering as a result of the government's continual efforts to promote the seal hunt, which she characterized as cruel and unnecessary.
"Kind Canadians and citizens all over the world are horrified by the practice of bludgeoning defenseless seal pups until they are gasping for their last breath and choking to death on their own blood," Rajt told CTV News Channel from Washington.
"The seal hunt is truly Canada's shame and this is a desperate P.R. stunt by the Canadian government."
Rajt said there is no legitimate rationale that Ottawa can use to defend the hunt.
"I think the Canadian government for reasons that defy understanding, is trying to do everything it can to prop up the hunt, despite declining profits and melting ice on the East Coast that is already putting the lives of seals in peril."
Hervieux-Payette said that the anti-seal lobby has "manipulated" information about the seal hunt, which she said is a "legislated, regulated and monitored" activity.
Wednesday's menu change comes months after Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean chomped down on seal heart when she visited Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.
In front of hundreds of onlookers, Jean carved meat out of a pair of seal carcasses and eventually asked to try a piece of seal heart that was dripping with blood.
Jean said the seal heart was "absolutely delicious" and she compared it to the taste of sushi.
She won the respect of many Inuit people with the gesture and Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak said local Inuit were "honoured to share our culture with Her Excellency."
Jean rejected criticisms about her choice to dine on seal, saying the seal hunt is a long-established tradition for people living in Canada's Arctic communities.
Seal meat, both raw and cooked, was also served at a feast at the recent G7 summit, held in Iqaluit last month.
Several European ministers, however, left before the feast took place.
With files from The Canadian Press
