Metis right to hunt defended in Ontario

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The Metis Nation of Ontario has hired renowned Canadian lawyer Clayton Ruby to defend the rest case for an MNO member charged with hunting under the guidelines of its newly declared Metis Hunt.

Metis are being urged to hunt moose and deer this fall in defiance of Natural Resources Minister Howard Hampton and his department. Hunters are being called to support the endeavors of the MNO to have the Metis right to hunt under section 35 of the Canadian Constitution recognized by the province.

Hampton had earlier rejected an MNO proposal outlining the harvest of 245 of the more than 150,000 moose in Ontario, saying he doubt the MNO acted for all the Metis in the province. The minister also said the proposal came too late in the 1994 season and to allocate the moose to the Metis "could create a conservation issue."

But the Metis are asking for very little, wrote Ruby in a letter to the minister.

"You have allocated 26,955 moose for recreation and sport hunting this year in Ontario. The Metis Nation of Ontario, their families and their children need 245 moose to sustain them over the winter (55 in the Northwest region). Why are there so many for recreational purposes and nothing for food for the Metis?"

Tony Belcourt, president of the MNO, was surprised by he minister's one page letter rejecting the proposal. The plan had been crated in co-operation with natural resources officials, over a period of eight months, he said.

"Our people will no longer hunt in secret - the right to hunt for food is a constitutional right of the Metis and we will now exercise our right in spite of our best effort to take a reasoned and negotiated approach," said Belcourt.

Ruby expanded upon the Metis argument saying the minister's reasons for rejecting the proposal were misleading.

The impression the minister seems to wish to create is that the Northwest Metis Hunt Agreement was initially proposed only at the end of September, when the reality is the proposal had been in the works since as early as March, wrote Ruby.

A Sept. 29 meeting with representatives from MNO and the ministry resulted in the negotiated agreement which was then sent to the minister for approval. The Metis believed the government was acting in good faith during the eight months it took to come to the mutually acceptable agreement, said Ruby. It is clear now that was not the case, he concluded.

And the question of representation is not the issue, said Belcourt. The defence of the Aboriginal right to harvest fish and wildlife for food is the issue, he said.

The proposed agreement could only help the government to manage the resource because Metis could hunt without fear of prosecution and MNR officials could have a better understanding of how many moose and deer are actually being harvested, said Ruby.

"Metis have always hunted deer for food and will continue to hunt, but they have been forced by the exclusionary policies of MNR to hunt by stealth and to hide their harvest."

The MNO has pledged to provide legal and financial support to challenge the unconstitutional behavior of the provincial government, said Ruby. To get the judicial wheels in motion , he has in invited MNR officers to attend a hunt where he will help them gather evidence. Then a charge can be laid. said Ruby.

In the meantime, Belcourt has offered more global support to Metis hunters.

"We're going to defend every single Metis person that gets charged while they're hunting pursuant to the terms of the agreement that we negotiated," said Belcourt. "We're keeping our end of the bargain. If people are going to get charged, we will defend them."