Please explain to me how the government of Canada is oppressing Watson and associates though having legalized seal hunting and preventing him from interfering.
What you should ask is why Watson can dock in several countries including the United States and yet none of them will or cannot find legitimate reason to put him in jail.
Let's see. He's been tried and convicted in absentia in Norway for attempting to sink a Norwegian fishing vessel, but managed to get the Dutch to refuse to extradite him.
In Costa Rica he was charged with attempted murder after he tried to ram a 13 foot fishing boat with their much larger ship.
He posted bail and fled the country. He did apparently produce evidence of illegal shark finning, but does that justify trying to ram a 13 foot fishing boat? What threat was that tiny boat to him and his crew? Why couldn't he call in authorities, or even if necessary and authorized by law, take the fisherman into custody themselves?
Is the just penalty for shark finning death at the hands of a vigilante without a trial?
From my searches, I didn't see any reference to the charges being dropped.
It appears he generally operates in international waters, and those he harasses don't generally have evidence to prove their case, so it becomes a matter of he said she said, and Watson's political connections and considerable finical backing make him very hard to prosecute.
However, it appears that they are arresting members from the crew of his ship this time, so we will just have to wait and see how this one turns out.
However, since Watson himself wasn't on the ship, it's only his lackeys that might go to jail this time, and since the seal hunters don't appear to have much solid evidence to back up their claims, it also appears that they are only facing relatively minor charges.
It is also possible that his own claims of ramming boats are exaggerated to help him try and scare others into submitting in a confrontation out of fear.
If true, that doesn't make his actions any more noble.
The Norwegians don't count. They gave Al Gore and Jimmy Carter (a man who dances with terrorists) and Arafat (a certified terrorist) the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegians are the worlds biggest buyers of seal furs, so that crime syndicate will stoop to any depth to rub out Watson. The Dutch were too smart for that.
Yes the Costa Ricans saw the political consequences of jailing Watson for doing the police work they wouldn't.
Look, in the United States we have a whale watching industry. Most Americans see no need to slaughter maritime mammals. They are more interested in seeing them alive. There is no need for survival to justify this commercial slaughter. We are not Aluets living on ice with meager protien resources. These seals are not killed food, just the furs and organs for perverse beliefs. In the United States, I'm sure it would get you jail time, yet little attention is brought to us by the media about our Northern neighbor.
For some strange reason, Freepers would think I am a bleeding heart liberal because of my abhorrence of wanton slaughter. Yet, the greatest destroyers of nature are socialist countries - The former Soviet Union, China, many failing Marxist African nations. Canada wants to join their ranks. It fits in with their socialized health care, growing limits on free speech, hard cash economics, the general disdain for America. Yet Freepers cheer them on. These cheer leaders strike me as the kind who would like to sit in the comfort of a railroad car and slaughter bison, pleasure killing.
I'll take my hat off to the stealthy hunter who goes into the woods hunting with a pistol. At least the wary prey have a chance. I'm sure if the prey could talk they would rather have a chance at getting away from a true sportsman than be "humanely" killed by some unfit hunter with a high powered rifle mounted with a scope. I also question the accuracy of the "humane" riflemen and doubt their claim of make a quick kill.
I suspect the socialized Canadian economy in the Maritime provinces sucks and the poor Canadians are doing the slaughter that better off Americans won't do. It wouldn't happen in the States.
More power to Watson for doing what he has to do to bring attention to the slaughter. He's doing the work the media dare not.