Controversy hounded Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean a day after she ate a slice of raw seal heart in a public gathering in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut as part of her week-long Arctic visit.

Green and animal rights groups denounced her act. Bruce Friedrich of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said, quoted by Globe and Mail, "The Canadian Governor General's sick PR stunt is predictable, of revolting, attempts to save a dying industry."

U.S. blogger Gawker compared Jean to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and called Jean a badass. Gawker pointed out that while the former Republic vice presidential candidate uses dead animals as decorations in her office and shoots wolves from helicopters, "Jean, clearly the more badass of the two, prefers to butcher seals and eat their hearts in front of hundreds of onlookers."

In defense of Jean, Mary Simon, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said in a statement, "I applaud our Governor General for her public support of traditional Inuit culture and practices by her respectful and genuine willingness... to eat some of the seal meat, which is a significant activity and nutritious food source for Inuit. To us, this kind gesture is an acknowledgement... of our culture and our dependence upon our wildlife as an important resource for our communities today."

The act of Jean is seen as Canada's way of battling the proposed European Union ban on seal products. Asked to comment if that was the intent of her gesture, the governor general told Globe and Mail, "Take from that what you will."

Although the proposed EU ban would exempt Inuits, Nunavut Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk is wary of the EU legislation. Shewchuk explained in a statement, "There is apparently a misconception in Europe that an exemption protects Inuits. This is absolutely not the case... We have seen how pointless these exemptions were in the 80s as a result of the European ban on white coats. They also included Inuit exemptions back the, but our communities still suffered. Once again, Inuit are being used to further a cause based on misinformation from special interest groups opposing the hunt in any form."

PETA, to pressure Canada to halt the yearly seal hunt, will launch on Tuesday in Vermont an international campaign to stop purchasing Canadian maple syrup to pressure the Canadian government.

Another tactic adopted by PETA is it designed a logo for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games showing an inushuk hitting a seal, with the Olympic rings full of blood. PETA is selling online merchandise with that logo. The U.S. Olympic Committee asked PETA to stop using the logo.