Province dismisses illegal hunting charges against Metis

BY KEITH LACEY

The president of the Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO) says his people should now be able to hunt and collect food anywhere in the province without interference following what he calls a historic court decision Tuesday.

Tony Belcourt said he also hopes the provincial government “will do the right thing” and dismiss illegal hunting charges against 22 other Metis hunters following the court ruling.

Justice Greg Rodgers of the Ontario Court of Justice - a former assistant Crown attorney in Sudbury before being appointed to the bench five years ago - ruled charges of illegal hunting filed by Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) conservation officers against three Metis men from French River (80 kilometres south of Sudbury) will be stayed.

This means the charges are withdrawn unless the Crown finds further evidence to pursue the same charges at a later date.

Rodgers ruled the laying of charges violated a July 2004 agreement between the MNO and MNR signed after the historic Sept. 19, 2003 Supreme Court of Canada R. vs. Powley decision, where the country’s highest court voted 9-0 to recognize Metis as a rights-bearing Aboriginal people in Canada.

The MNR “broke the spirit and intent” of the 2004 agreement by allowing Metis south and west of Sudbury to hunt animals for food, but didn’t allow the same rights for Metis east and north of Sudbury, says Belcourt.

“The significance of this decision is it justifies the whole point of honouring negotiated agreements between the government and Aboriginal people,” said Belcourt.

“The court has ruled this agreement our people signed with the government means something and is binding on this government.”

Following the Powley decision, the MNO entered into negotiations with the MNR to implement a harvesting agreement allowing a set number of Metis to hunt animals used for food, said Belcourt.

Current Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay and Belcourt signed a deal where the ministry would issue 1,250 Harvester’s Cards to Metis across Ontario.

It was also agreed the MNR would apply an Interim Enforcement Policy to those valid Harvester’s Card holders who harvest animals within their traditional territories to ensure they complied with conservation and safety rules consistent with other recognized First Nations people.

The interim agreement was supposed to remain in place for two years with the intention it be extended by mutual consent until a final agreement was in place.

However, the MNO and MNR disagreed on what constitutes traditional Metis territory in Ontario and the MNR ended up charging 25 Metis people in 2004 and 2005 with illegal harvesting in areas south and east of Sudbury, said Belcourt.

The MNO decided in the fall of 2005 to join three cases together to protest the charges. Evidence was heard stretching over several months last year.

Rodgers’ ruling means charges against Marc Laurin, Shawn Lemieux and Roger Lemieux have been thrown out of court.

“We have reached another major victory in the Metis hunt for justice,” said Belcourt, in a phone interview from North Bay, where Rodgers made his ruling. “This judgment restores our faith in the value of negotiated agreements and justifies our position that we wish to work out our issues at a negotiating table.”

Jolanta Kowalski, spokesperson for the MNR, said charges were only filed against the 25 men in question because the MNO and MNR didn’t agree on geographical boundaries in Northern Ontario recognized as official Metis territory.

“There are historical areas where Metis people have established history in Ontario...our interpretation of what constitutes historical Metis land differed from theirs (MNO),” said Kowalski.

Belcourt said the MNO now wants all illegal hunting charges filed against Metis in Northern Ontario to be withdrawn, and hopefully sooner than later.

The MNO would then like to sit down with Ramsay and MNR officials to work on a long-term solution, he said.

Kowalski expects Ramsay and other top MNR officials to meet with Belcourt and MNO leaders to reach a permanent deal on harvesting rights.

“Minister Ramsay couldn’t be more adamant about wanting to meet with the MNO at any time,” said Kowalski.

The decision on whether remaining charges against the 22 other Metis is out of the ministry’s jurisdiction and will be decided by Crown prosecutors in the affected regions, she said.