Ontario court upholds Metis aboriginal hunting rights
© 2001 Reuters
February 26, 2001
Story by Julie Remy
TORONTO - The high court of Ontario upheld the hunting rights of the Metis aboriginal nation on Friday, a ruling hailed as a "resounding victory" with implications for the half million Metis who live across Canada.
The Ontario Court of Appeal ruling essentially upholds the Metis' aboriginal right to hunt for a living in the province, disregarding regulations on when they may hunt and how many animals they may kill.
Gerald Morin, president of the Metis National Council, said that this was the first time a higher court had recognized the ancestral harvesting rights that are central to the Metis culture.
The case sprang from charges against two Metis for illegally hunting moose and illegal possession of moose, near Sault Ste Marie, in northern Ontario, in 1993. The charges were thrown out by two lower courts, which said Metis have the right to hunt. The Ontario provincial government had appealed on conservation grounds.
The Superior Court ruling, which was unanimous, gives the government a year to work out conservation details with the Metis.
"This is an incredibly significant victory for all those who grew up in communities struggling for their existence (and had to) hide in the bush to exercise (their) hunting rights, with all the ostracism and the shame that we felt," Morin said.
"This is a landmark ruling, not only for the Metis in Ontario. It has proclaimed the Metis existence in Canada," he added.
"The court has clearly told the Ontario government to sit down with us (and) work out the details of that scheme," said Tony Belcourt, president of the Metis Nation of Ontario.
A spokesperson for the provincial Ministry of Native Affairs said the government hadn't decided on a possible appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Metis, one of the three aboriginal people recognized in Canada's Constitution, are descendants of unions between European fur traders and aboriginal people. There are approximately half a million Metis people in Canada, mostly in the Prairies, with about 75,000 in Ontario.
Jean Teillet, the Metis lawyer, said the court ruling confirmed the rights of the Metis to sustain their existence by giving them priority access to land resources. He said it did not imply commercialization.
Tony Belcourt, president of the Metis Nation of Ontario, said the ruling recognizes the harvesting rights of a few thousand Metis hunters in Ontario who already kill moose for their food supply.
"We only take what we need. As aboriginal people, we are the ones that care the most about (the land) and we put this down in writing in our harvesting policy," he said.