In a world where symbols matter, Canada’s reluctance to ban the trade in polar bear body parts speaks volumes.

For an increasing number of countries, protecting the majestic polar bear is a no-brainer. The United States, as well as Britain, wants an international ban on commercial trade in polar bear pelts, teeth, claws and other body parts.

So it seems, do a good many others among the 178 nations that have signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

As this column goes to press, the only question seems to be whether the U.S. proposal will win the two-thirds majority needed to add polar bear parts to a trade-ban list that already includes elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns.

The decision is expected to be made Thursday at a meeting of convention signatories in Bangkok.

Canada, home to 60 per cent of the world’s polar bears, is the only country in the world to permit international commercial trade in the animals’ body parts. About 500 of the roughly 15,000 polar bears that live in Canada are killed legally each year. Pelts, skulls, claws and teeth are exported worldwide.

The U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that good pelts sell for $10,000 apiece, while a single tooth can command $200.

To qualify for a kill licence in Canada, a polar bear hunter must either hire an aboriginal guide or be aboriginal.

In theory, the issue of the polar bear hunt should be simple. In practice, it is not. It is enmeshed in the politics of aboriginal rights and climate change.

The U.S. treats polar bears as a threatened species. That means no sport hunting is permitted (although aboriginals can kill the animal for food). It also means that American hunters can’t bring home trophies from polar bears they kill in Canada.

Canada accepts grizzly bears as an endangered species that cannot, under most circumstances, be hunted. But Ottawa treats polar bears only as a “species of special concern,” which means they can be killed for sport.

Yet even the species-of-concern designation is seen as too restrictive by some Inuit leaders. The government of Nunavut insists that polar bear populations are increasing, not declining and that limits on the hunt will harm Arctic communities.

Canadian environmental groups are split. All argue that climate change poses the biggest risk to polar bears. And some, like the International Fund for Animal Welfare, also oppose the polar bear hunt.

Others, however, say that hunting, if properly managed, is fine.

“Global trade in bear parts does not threaten the polar bear,” says Geoff York of the World Wildlife Fund.

York insists that equating the polar bear with what he calls a truly endangered species such as the gorilla, would set a bad international precedent.

Perhaps. But the world loves polar bears. The world is also decidedly unimpressed by Canada’s environmental and species-protection record.

Before Stephen Harper became prime minister, we used to be regarded as solidly virtuous, if mildly dull. Now we are notorious as the country that keeps trying to sabotage international climate accords.

Many Europeans view Canada as the home of an annual seal hunt they find barbaric.

Here in Canada, the Alberta oilsands may have supporters. But abroad, the tarsands are seen as a source of environmental degradation and unalloyed carbon emissions — an example of Canada thumbing its nose at the world.

And now, once again, we’re on the periphery. Canada may squeak by in Bangkok. But we are offside with a host of our allies, including the U.S., Britain, Belgium, Germany and Holland.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Even Russia, a fellow arctic nation, has abandoned Canada to align itself with the U.S.

If our isolation stemmed from noble purpose, that would be one thing. But we are making our stand on the right to market body parts. Where’s the honour in that?