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Charter Right to poach Eagles?
First nations man claims charter right to trade eagle parts
By Jane Seyd, Canwest News ServiceJune 26, 2009Comments (20)
NORTH VANCOUVER — A first nations man convicted of illegally trafficking in eagle parts is appealing his case, saying he has a charter right to trade the bird pieces.
The case of James Carl Joseph will likely be one of the first in British Columbia's Lower Mainland to examine whether first nations members have a right protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to trade in eagle parts that have been deemed illegal under the provincial Wildlife Act.
The trading of eagle parts came to light in 2005, with the discovery of 50 butchered eagle carcasses on Tsleil-Waututh Nation land in North Vancouver.
Fifteen men were eventually charged with trafficking in the eagle parts. Several were fined; two were handed brief jail terms.
Most recently, Joseph, identified as one of the key players in the trafficking ring, was found guilty of seven offences under the Wildlife Act following a seven-day trial in Surrey provincial court.
He has yet to be sentenced.
A date for his charter rights argument will be set in Surrey provincial court later this summer.
According to court documents, Joseph traded ceremonial eagle parts with first nations band members in the United States. Joseph used a carving workshop attached to a relative's house on Tsleil-Waututh Nation land to stash the eagle bodies and dismember them.
Conservation officers believe between 500 and 1,500 birds were killed illegally by poachers in various areas of the south coast and brought to North Vancouver for processing.
Judge Jim Jardine of the Surrey provincial court found Joseph guilty on seven charges, including illegally trafficking in wildlife parts and unlawful possession of dead wildlife. He was found not guilty of six other charges, including exporting wildlife parts.
Earlier this year, another first nations man on Vancouver Island was found guilty of four offences of trafficking wildlife after failing to convince a judge with his Aboriginal rights argument.
North Shore News
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