Hunters charged with illegal sale of game

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Undercover operations by Fish and Wildlife officials have netted almost two tons of illegally caught game and fish in southern Ontario.

Over a two-year period, an undercover police operation seized 1,800 kilograms of fish, deer and moose meat from Native and non-Native hunters and fishers. The catches were seized under the Ontario Game and Fish Act which prohibits buying, selling or trading wild game.

More than 300 game and fish violation charges have been brought to trial in Gore Bay, Ontario, and the majority of the 23 people remaining in court are Ojibway and Odawa of Manitoulin Island.

The charges, mostly of illegally shooting and selling deer, date back to 1989.

Some of the other charges include night hunting and, according to Bob Broad of the Ministry of Natural Resources, mostly unsafe practices, such as shooting across roadways at night in the close proximity of buildings.

The onslaught of charges signal an escalation of conflict between provincial and First Nations government's understanding of treaty rights, said the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin Island.

"....It is clear that these proceedings are just one more chapter in a conflict over resource use that has been going on for more than a century....But there has never been anything quite on this scale, and that is a reflection of the level of conflict that now seems to exist among us."

The provincial government concedes Natives in the Robinson-Huron treaty area have the right to hunt and fish for use within their own community under treaty rights.

"(It is) the sale, primarily to non-Native that gives us the concern," stated Broad.

But selling game isn't a treaty right, "therefore the law applies," he added.

The United Council of Manitoulin Chiefs backed their people, declaring "...the rights at issue are recognized and affirmed in Canada's constitution, and we have not been provided with an opportunity to negotiate our differences."

The trial started on Sept. 12, and is expected to last 4 to 6 weeks. The maximum penalty under the Ontario Fish and Game Act is $25,000.