http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/09/28/4532966-sun.html
Metis to defy new hunting restrictions
UPDATED: 2007-09-28 01:47:47 MST
By CP
EDMONTON -- Alberta Metis will defy provincial hunting
laws this fall by holding traditional community hunts
outside of government-designated harvesting areas,
their leader says.
Audrey Poitras, president of the Metis Nation of
Alberta, said if her people are charged they will
fight in court to draw attention to the province's
"regressive Metis harvesting policy."
"This is about tradition. This is not about somebody
deciding where we have the right to hunt," Poitras
said yesterday.
"If this has to end up in court, then we are prepared
to do that."
Earlier this year the government replaced an agreement
that allowed Metis to hunt and fish without a licence
throughout the province with new rules that restrict
such harvesting to areas near eight Metis settlements
and 17 communities in northern Alberta. The change was
made after an Alberta judge ruled that the old
agreement was not enforceable.
Alberta contends that the new policy that went into
effect this summer still complies with a 2003 Supreme
Court of Canada ruling that said Metis have the right
to hunt and fish for food.
Since the change, the Metis have tried unsuccessfully
to persuade Premier Ed Stelmach's government to
negotiate a less restrictive harvesting agreement, she
said.
One concern is the new policy excludes Metis in
central and southern Alberta. The government says it
has no records of Metis settlements in those areas.
Metis to defy new hunting restrictions
UPDATED: 2007-09-28 01:47:47 MST
By CP
EDMONTON -- Alberta Metis will defy provincial hunting
laws this fall by holding traditional community hunts
outside of government-designated harvesting areas,
their leader says.
Audrey Poitras, president of the Metis Nation of
Alberta, said if her people are charged they will
fight in court to draw attention to the province's
"regressive Metis harvesting policy."
"This is about tradition. This is not about somebody
deciding where we have the right to hunt," Poitras
said yesterday.
"If this has to end up in court, then we are prepared
to do that."
Earlier this year the government replaced an agreement
that allowed Metis to hunt and fish without a licence
throughout the province with new rules that restrict
such harvesting to areas near eight Metis settlements
and 17 communities in northern Alberta. The change was
made after an Alberta judge ruled that the old
agreement was not enforceable.
Alberta contends that the new policy that went into
effect this summer still complies with a 2003 Supreme
Court of Canada ruling that said Metis have the right
to hunt and fish for food.
Since the change, the Metis have tried unsuccessfully
to persuade Premier Ed Stelmach's government to
negotiate a less restrictive harvesting agreement, she
said.
One concern is the new policy excludes Metis in
central and southern Alberta. The government says it
has no records of Metis settlements in those areas.
