nosh nook #56 - monday, june 1, 2009

former GG unimpressed with jean's seal snack (link)
05.31.09 - toronto star - by alexander panetta, the canadian press

joining in on the locals' rituals or customs is just one of the key tools in the politician's handbag, a way to show the people "hey, i'm an average person just like you." it doesn't always go as planned though. we saw it last march, during the last u.s. election season, when barack obama went to altoona, pa's pleasant valley lanes to bowl with pennsylvania senator robert casey. while it allowed obama to mingle with the locals, the takeaway message was that obama is not a good bowler...& we won't even get into the fact that the president compared his bowling skills to that of something out of the special olympics.

in canada, governor general michaelle jean, the country's first black governor general, has recently caused somewhat of a hubbub by participating in an inuit skinning ritual which involved her snacking on raw seal meat & more specifically, the seal heart. as alexander panetta explains, last week, jean was attending an "arctic symposium" in iqaluit (the capital of nunavut, canada's newest territory) & as a gesture to the citizens, skinned a seal with "a traditional ulu blade" and then asked for & ate a slice of its heart. the crowd gave her a standing ovation.  i've never tried seal heart myself, but i'm assuming that it tastes unlike anything i've ever eaten.

sure, it's pretty hardcore when politicians start eating mammal hearts, but former governor general adrienne clarkson was not impressed by jean's gesture.  shit.  she's been eating raw food since 1971 & has "a lovely seal skin coat."  she has a good point. it's a nice gesture & all, but as a politician, you can't expect the people to blindly follow you just because you're both cool with eating pieces of a circulatory system.  if jean expects to get the people behind her, she needs to go beyond shared snacking.  she probably needs to go on national TV & do something totally awesome like clubbing the hell out of a baby seal.  i hear people love that sort of stuff.