Fur still flying over song lyrics

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Northwest Territories Metis Association president Gary Bohnet can rest easy. Those Barenaked Ladies from Toronto didn't take a swipe at traditional economies when they sang a line against fur coats in their hit song If I Had a Million Dollars.

"All the members of our band eat meat and wear leather," the band said in a press statement after Bohnet threatened a boycott of their Yellowknife concert over an anti-fur line in a song.

"We understand that fur has played a major role in our country's heritage and that it is still a vital facet of many people's livelihood and traditions...However, we draw the line at fur, especially as a statement of wealth."

The lyric, which refers to a lover's wish to buy his girlfriend a fake fur coast because real fur is "cruel," was meant to be a parody of "knee-jerk reactions," to broad debates, the band said.

The Barenaked Ladies insist they believe everyone has the right to make their own ethical decision about fur.

But that apparently was not good enough for Bohnet, who lashed out again after seeing the band's statement.

"The band's statement about ethics and personal choice sound great," he said. "But the reality is that the Barenaked Ladies are using the medium of entertainment to promote a message that is false and harmful to many people."

Other Native leaders and pro-fur lobbyists have also waded into the debate.

Dene Nation president Bill Erasmus said he was "quite concerned" that people might be influenced by the wording of the song.

1 Cindy Gilday, an activist with the Indigenous Survival International lobby group, called trapping a "constitutional right" for First Nations. The idealism of the anti-fur movement doesn't reflect the battle against poverty and environmental degradation faced by grassroots communities, she said.

Nigel Best, a spokesman for the group now touring England, said the Ladies never intended to attack a way of life or discourage people from buying fur.

"A fur coast is symbolic of huge, vast amounts of wealth. That's what was being attacked in the song," he said.