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September - 2007
MNA adopt their own harvesting laws
By Dianne Meili
Sweetgrass Writer
EDMONTONThe Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) has adopted its own policy to regulate hunting and fishing by its members.
In a move to retain their Constitutional right to hunt, MNA members rejected the Alberta government's harvesting regulations at their Aug. 19 general assembly in favour of their own policy.
"If members do decide to hunt, we're not sure how far this will go," cautioned MNA President Audrey Poitras. "If you're charged, your meat may be confiscated, maybe even your vehicle. But as far as your legal concerns go, the MNA has a legal defense fund to help you."
Harvesters eligible for this support must be acting within the terms of the MNA's policy. "We've turned away hunters who've come to us for help in the past if their charge stems from being irresponsible - like a safety issue," Poitras said.
"Our's is a good, responsible policy," said MNA's Métis rights expert Cecil Bellerose of the eight-page harvesting policy. "It clearly states who is Métis and where they can hunt, and it addresses responsibility and conservation issues."
Eligible harvesters must apply for identification stickers to be affixed to the back of their MNA membership card. Members must be approved by the MNA to obtain this sticker.
"Our staff will be out checking harvesters as usual, just as we always have," said Sustainable Resource Development spokesperson Dave Ealey, who underlined the department is not trying to be unfair. "There needs to be an understanding out there we are merely upholding the law of the land as handed down by the Supreme Court, in the absence of having our own provincial agreement."
An Interim Métis Harvesting Agreement (IMHA) had been in place that gave Métis harvesters the same hunting and fishing rights as First Nation members, but the agreement came under severe criticism from the Alberta Fish and Game Association and other conservation groups who protested it had been developed without public or stakeholder input. While the interim agreement was in place, the MNA and Aboriginal Affairs department worked to draft a long-term harvesting policy with the understanding that either party, with notice, could terminate negotiations. In April, Guy Boutilier, the provincial minister of Aboriginal Affairs, indicated the IMHA would be terminated within 90 days, giving the MNA and the province three months to hammer out a long term harvesting policy. When talks stalled, the MNA requested the IMHA be extended for an additional 60 days to allow for continued negotiations. "We received a letter that no extension would be granted," Poitras said.
When the IMHA ended in July, the province replaced the agreement with the regulations that were in place before the interim agreement was finalized in 2004-harvesting regulations resulting from the 2003 Powley case, in which the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the Metis right to hunt and fish under certain guidelines. The government then posted a policy that, according to the MNA, contained none of the points of agreement the two parties had been working on.
"The Powley case sets standards for hunting, and since we haven't been able to agree upon a long term harvesting agreement for Alberta, we are bound-as the agency responsible for enforcing hunting laws -to go back and uphold the Supreme Court's stipulation," Ealey explained.
In a letter submitted to Windspeaker, MNA Vice President Trevor Gladue took issue with government's latest policy because the Métis were not consulted regarding its impact. He questions the designation within which Métis harvesters are allowed to hunt (an area within a 160-kilometre radius around Alberta's eight Métis settlements and 17 designated Métis communities). None of these are located within Southern Alberta.
"So is the government saying that our Métis people in Southern Alberta are less Metis than those in the North? I think not," he said.
"The government believes that it has the right to tell us who we are as a people," Gladue wrote. "We as the Métis Nation know who we are. We have worked hard over the years determining a national definition of Métis. We do not just give out membership cards to anyone; we have a very stringent process in place in which our people are required to provide proof of ancestral connection to the Métis community."
"The province has no say in this matter," Métis hunter Art Majeau said. "My hunting rights are a Constitutional right." He wonders exactly what kind of proof he will need to prove to the government he is an eligible harvester with an affiliation to a Métis community. Should he be charged, he will have 60 days to prove his eligibility.
"The details of that proof falls under the Aboriginal Affairs department," explained Ealey.