Environment Minister Aglukkaq posts photo of dead polar bear, defends hunt

OTTAWA – Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq is raising a ruckus in social media circles after posting a photo of a freshly killed polar bear on Twitter with the caption: “Enjoy!!”

Aglukkaq, an Inu who was raised on the land, was relaying a message from someone in Arctic Bay, on Baffin Island, who boasted that his cousin had “caught his first polar bear” and included a photo of the dead, glassy-eyed carnivore.

Messages of protest and support quickly followed Aglukkaq’s post, which was not the first time the Conservative minister has tweaked the sensibilities of environmentalists and animal rights activists.

Aglukkaq, who has a polar bear skin displayed in her ministerial office, according to insiders, has also worn a seal skin coat in the House of Commons and publicly congratulated northern communities on successful whale hunts.

She has also questioned scientific studies suggesting polar bear numbers are threatened, citing anecdotal evidence from her brother in Nunavut.

In response to her Twitter detractors over the photo, Aglukkaq wrote that she continues to support the hunt, and said “polar bears are culturally, spiritually and economically important for northerners.”