The president of the Métis National Council says he’s disappointed the Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear a hunting rights case in Alberta.
Clem Chartier says he was certain the country’s highest court would hear the case of Métis hunter Gary Hirsekorn, who in 2007 was charged with shooting a deer without a licence in the Cypress Hills region of southern Alberta.
Hirsekorn argued Métis people have been free-range hunters who have traditionally ventured into these lands for decades but the Alberta Court of Appeal saw differently.
Chartier says Métis harvesting rights are a complicated issue but there are some aspects of the landmark Powley case that could now require further examination.
“The situation, or perhaps problem, with the Powley Case in 2003 is it was a site-specific area because the Métis in that region were not as mobile,” he says. “They lived by the lake, they could hunt and fish in their territory, they didn’t travel great distances like the Métis in the plains did on the prairies and so it’s not one that’s expansive enough to embrace the historic reality of the mobility of the Métis Nation.”
The Powley case involved two men in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario – Steve and Roddy Powley – who were charged in 1993 with illegally hunting moose.
The Powleys didn’t have a license for hunting but tagged the animal to let others know it would be used for food.
They were nonetheless charged and the legal tussle eventually wound up before the Supreme Court which sided with the Powleys.
The Powley case brought into focus certain criteria regarding Métis hunting rights and who is entitled to enjoy these rights.
Chartier says the MNC will be watching the Alberta government carefully to see if any other Métis hunters are charged.
He adds they won’t let the latest legal setback prevent the MNC from continuing to fight for Métis hunting rights.
“While this is a setback in part of our Métis Nation homeland with respect to hunting, we need to not let it detract us from the larger picture and we need to continue moving ahead.”