
Source: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=321457&sc=98
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea says her resolve to defend Canadaâs seal hunt is only strengthened by an American protester pushing a tofu pie in her face during an announcement in Ontario Monday.
Shea, a P.E.I. MP, wasnât hurt. She left the podium, cleaned the pie off her face and then returned to carry out her announcement at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters in Burlington, Ont., west of Toronto.
âIf this is what it takes to defend the Canadian seal hunt then Iâm very proud to do it,â Shea said in an one-on-one interview with The Guardian following the incident.
âThis actually just strengthens my resolve to defend this industry.â
Police have charged a 37-year-old New York City woman with assault.
Emily McCoy was taken into custody immediately after the incident.
The animal-rights group PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it is responsible for the incident.
PETA says in a release it was part of its campaign âto stop the governmentâs ill-advised sanction of the slaughter of seals,â and called the pie used a âtofu cream pie.â
McCoy is no stranger to police. Sheâs the same woman who was arrested for trespassing after she stood on top of a table at a Charlottetown hotel last October during a meeting of the Fisheries Council of Canada.
She received a fine of $120 for that last October.
The whole incident in Ontario was caught on camera.
Shea began, as she does most events, by thanking those in attendance for coming.
The video then shows a woman walking up to the podium and softly pushing the pie into Sheaâs face, while saying: âShame on you Gail Shea ... it is a shame on Canada, it is a shame that she has not denounced this bloody seal hunt.â
The bright lights from the television cameras, Shea added, prevented her from seeing the woman coming towards her.
âI could kind of see something was coming in front of the lights, but I couldnât tell what it was until I got it right in the face,â Shea said.
âI didnât know what was happening until I actually got the pie in the face.â
Shea said itâs unfortunate that groups like PETA have to resort to incidents like this to get attention.
âI had a chance to clean off my face and resume my duties. Islanders would expect me to do that,â said the grandmother of eight.
Police are now investigating how McCoy managed to slip into the public event with a pie in her possession.
While not injured, Shea said she does consider it assault with a weapon.
It has also crossed her mind that the person could have had something much more dangerous than a pie in her hand.
âYou just deal with so many people,â said Shea. âYou canât know that everybody that we come across is rational.
âBut itâs part of the job, itâs part of the risk you take. You can only have so much security. The public needs to have access to us and we need to have access to the public.â