Dear editor,
Re: Activist funding her participation in causes — one can or bottle at a time (Record, Aug. 19).
I'm afraid that Ms. Millen is doing much more harm than good for the anti-dolphin hunt/anti-whaling movement.
Some of her (and her fellow Sea Shepherd members') past activities in Japan can be seen in this Youtube video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUcfAyTTFd0.
This video has already gone viral in Japan; people there are outraged, regardless of if they're pro-whaling or anti-whaling. I've attempted to clean up the mess and do some damage control to try to convince Japanese people that all anti-whaling activists aren't like this. However, I've found that it's like trying to stop a bursting dam with a sandbag.
Furthermore, her comment on another YouTube video she uploaded explains why she's ignoring a slaughter going on her own country and using valuable donations (not to mention fuel used to travel) to go halfway around the world:
"I live in Canada and I am 100 per cent in opposition of the seal slaughter. Believe me, I'd be out on the East Coast if I felt that I would not be in danger. Those "fishermen" are extremely violent and I would more than likely end up in jail if I were to travel there."
So instead, she's going to Japan to bully the people there (see the above footage) because they're too polite/meek to fight back. The Japanese public sees this behavior and they're disgusted. Hence the increased difficulty in convincing them to pressure their government to put an end to dolphin slaughter/whaling.
Ms. Millen, if you still insist on pushing forward with this counter-productive mission of yours, at least use some of those donations to hire a translator. You might get more of a response if you talk to Japanese people in Japanese.
Erica Ueda,
Burnaby