A First Nations hunter said he is not surprised that a Sask. Conservation Officer made derogatory comments toward him, following a recent hunting trip.
Darcy Iron alleges that the CO out of the Humboldt office made this comment. ‘You guys are always driving around shooting out your windows and ruining things for everyone.’
“It doesn’t surprise me because its a generational thing,” said Iron, referring that he has heard similar comments made against First Nations people since he was a child.
“The comments in itself are very offensive and it goes to the fact when we talk about systemic racism this is a prime example of systemic racism.”
Iron was arrested December 30, 2020 for alleged outstanding warrants. Iron said as part of his conditions for his previous criminal history was that he could not possess firearms.
He claims his arrest centered on his firearms, but that there was a clerical error in not removing the designation from his record.
Iron asserts that he is legally allowed to carry firearms since 2016, following a 10-year prohibition period.
He was detained for approximately one hour while the CO, who MBC is not identifying attempted to contact the RCMP to inquire about the outstanding warrants.
Unsuccessful, the conservation officer released Iron to voluntarily address the warrants.
However, that day Iron decided that he would take his son-11 and his daughter-9 hunting to get them out on the land and learn the traditional ways. He said his daughter was starting to be included in hunting, an experience she was excited to participate in.
During his arrest and detention, he claims his two children were left unattended in his vehicle.
“See my daughter crying. She was worried ‘I didn’t think you were coming back dad’ was all she could say,” Iron said. “The boy, I can tell what’s holding back on his tears. the boy was probably doing his best to accommodate his sister and trying to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.”
Iron denied that he was an unethical hunter, but that he had great respect for the hunt and the use of the harvest.
“[That] doesn’t include sticking firearms out of the window of our truck and shooting animals. That’s not a part of my hunting method. And I’m sure it’s not part of the majority of First Nation hunters, who take wholeheartedly the animal and use every part of the animal when they harvest an animal,” explained Iron.
The Ministry did not address through either denying or confirming the allegations that Iron’s children were left unattended for over an hour or that the conservation officer made the alleged racial comments.
Iron said the Ministry has reached out to him to set up a meeting in which other conservations officers can meet with his children to showcase their work.
He said he’s not trying to let this incident tarnish all conservation officers, claiming he’s had many positive interactions.
“To date, the ministry has not received a written statement of complaint from Mr. Iron,” stated a Ministry spokesperson.