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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife-based big game outfitter and his company have been fined a total of $1,500 for three separate wildlife violations after helping a hunter kill a bison while making a promotional video for the struggling business.

Last year, Gary Jaeb, a company shareholder with True North Safaris, invited a hunter up to the NWT from Alberta to shoot the video with the idea that he would be able to get a bison tag for the hunter, Donald Zenner. But due to some misunderstandings over who had authority to issue the tags, that didn't happen, according to Jaeb.

"When Donny Zenner showed up here all I had was one tag and that was my tag," Jaeb told Yellowknifer previously. "So I let Donny use it to make a TV show and we kept the meat and I thought it was good."

Jaeb, 64, pleaded guilty in territorial court Thursday to transferring the right of a hunting licence to Zenner and, in return for compensation, providing guides or equipment to Zenner for the purposes of hunting big game without an outfitter's licence. True North Safaris was charged for this last offence as well.

When considering sentencing, deputy judge Brian Bruser said he was hesitant to give Jaeb and the company a lower fine because of the potential revenue from the promotional video. But Jaeb's lawyer, Glen Boyd, explained the company hasn't been financially stable since Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger took away hunting tags for non-resident and sport hunters to hunt caribou on the Barren Lands in January 2010.

At its peak, from 1996 to 2006, True North Safaris employed about 30 Tlicho citizens but now the operation is virtually non-existent, according to Jaeb.

"I'm sympathetic to their situation but sympathy is not what drives the sentencing process," Bruser said before fining both parties $500 for each violation. The maximum fine for all the offences is $1,000 each.

Jaeb's son Malcolm and hunter Donald Zenner were also charged in connection with the incident. Jaeb entered a plea of guilty on behalf of his son Thursday, for guiding hunters without a licence to do so. Additional charges against the two Jaebs were dropped although the younger Jaeb was fined $500.

Meanwhile, Zenner is charged with hunting without a licence. He is expected in territorial court on Sept. 11.

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