Dene Nation steps in to fight charge
Former Ndilo chief Ted Tsetta to fight illegal caribou hunting allegations on constitutional grounds
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, July 8, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Dene Nation has thrown its support behind former Yellowknives Dene First Nation chief Ted Tsetta as he fights a charge of illegal possession of wildlife.
Tsetta appeared in territorial court on Tuesday where his case was put over until September. Tsetta, the former chief of Ndilo, was charged with hunting caribou without a wildlife tag in February 2014. Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus was at the courthouse late last month to support Tsetta.
"The Dene Nation is supporting Mr. Tsetta because this is a broad treaty and aboriginal rights issue that affects our collective rights as Dene and other First Nations beyond Canada," Erasmus said outside the courthouse.
"This is why the Dene Nation was put in place. We support people like Mr. Tsetta who has done nothing wrong. He was exercising his right as a Dene to hunt. He was in Yellowknives Dene territory and did not commit any offense."
Erasmus added the Dene Nation strongly believes that the Wildlife Act of the NWT does not apply to the Dene.
"Because the wildlife act was not approved by the Dene, the territorial government has no authority to interfere or have the ability to supercede Mr. Tsetta's treaty and aboriginal rights as expressed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples."
According to a Dene Nation news release, the judge in the case wanted to know why Tsetta, more than two years after he was charged, still had not retained a lawyer. Tsetta said it was because he was denied legal aid.
The judge told him that he has to retain a lawyer in order for the case to move forward. It was agreed that Tsetta will be represented by a lawyer when he next appears in court on Sept. 27. This is when a trial date is expected to be set.
Part of Tsetta's defence will include a constitutional challenge to the charge under Section 35 of the Constitution Act. That's the section that recognizes and affirms indigenous rights.
"The judge was fair. Ted now knows what he has to do next. We are happy that the court has accepted this case as a constitutional challenge," Erasmus stated in a news release. Roger Shepard is the territorial government's prosecutor on the Tsetta case. He said he takes a different view on whether the wildlife act pertains to Tsetta specifically and the Dene in general.
"The wildlife act applies to all individuals in the NWT. Aboriginal individuals have certain rights guaranteed under section 35. Mr. Tsetta is entitled to make any arguments that he needs to make," he said. "It will be our position that the wildlife act is a law of general application and it does apply to all individuals in the NWT."
