Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The North Slave Metis Alliance must be consulted on the management of the Bathurst caribou herd for future harvesting seasons after a court ruling found the territorial government failed to consult with them before offering a limited hunt to other aboriginal groups.

Justice Sharon Smallwood of the NWT Supreme Court ruled on June 20 that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the government body which distributes harvest tags for the Bathurst caribou herd, "are directed to consult with (Enge) and the North Slave Metis Alliance about the management of the Bathurst caribou herd and the North Slave Metis Alliance's ability to participate in any current and future limited aboriginal harvests."

"I feel absolutely elated and relieved that we finally secured legal recognition of our Section 35 aboriginal rights," said Bill Enge, president of the North Slave Metis Alliance.

"This is a landmark ruling in the history of the Northwest Territories as no other group had had their aboriginal rights judicially recognized."

Section 35 of the Constitution Act provides protection of aboriginal rights in Canada, including harvesting rights.

Enge had argued his group deserved a share of the 300 tags allotted for the harvest.

The 300 tags were split between the Tlicho and the Yellowknives Dene First Nations for both the 2011/12 and 2012/13 winter harvesting seasons.

The North Slave Metis Alliance had been asking for between 50 and 75 of these tags, a range settled on after a report from the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board found the Yellowknives Dene First Nation had only used 61 of its allocated 150 tags.

According to the court documents, the GNWT had advised the North Slave Metis Alliance to contact either the Tlicho or Yellowknives to obtain a share of the tags.

"The North Slave Metis people are indignant that we had to go to court to get our aboriginal rights to harvest upheld," said Enge.

In her ruling, Smallwood found it was unreasonable to defer accommodation requests to another organization, and that this responsibility lies with the territorial government.

The GNWT argued it had attempted to accommodate the North Slave Metis by offering five tags to harvest bison and the unrestricted ability to harvest from the Bluenose-East caribou herd outside of the no-hunt zone.

The GNWT denied the North Slave Metis' right to harvest because the federal government "hasn't recognized the North Slave Metis Alliance as a distinct aboriginal people or community that have aboriginal rights or title in the North Slave region," according to court documents.

The hunting restrictions on the Bathurst herd were put into place in 2010 after a government survey found the population dropped to fewer than 32,000 animals in 2009 from more than 100,000 in 2006.

In a court case filed in federal court on May 24, Enge and the North Slave Alliance will be "asking a Federal Court of Canada judge to review the same material provided to Justice Sharon Smallwood to see if he disagrees with the federal government's assertion we do not possess Section 35 rights," said Enge.

Enge said he has been told by Bernard Valcourt, the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, that a Section 35 determination for the North Slave Metis people would determine how the department would approach and deal with the North Slave Metis Alliance in regards to the devolution agreement.

The GNWT has 30 days to appeal Smallwood's decision. Enge said this means the ball is now in the government's court.

"It's time for this government to grow up and to start to treat the North Slave Metis people with respect. It's time to start to treat us equal to other aboriginal groups," said Enge. "We want to be part of the political fabric of the Northwest Territories."

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources did not return Yellowknifer's requests for comment.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.