Metis harvesting agreement being pushed for fall

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An agreement being hammered out between the provincial government and the Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA) that would govern Metis hunters and fishers has some people concerned that conservation issues are being ignored and that the deal is being pushed along too fast.

The agreement has not yet been finalized, but Alberta Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Pearl Calahasen said she and the MNA have been doing all they can to get the Metis hunting rights granted under the Supreme Court's Powley decision into a provincial harvesting deal that can been put into action during this hunting season.

Metis Nation of Alberta president Audrey Poitras said the agreement means more than just hunting.

"We see it as the rights of Metis people as included in the Constitution of Canada," she said. "We believe how it will affect (Metis people) is that any Metis person that has a Metis Nation of Alberta card or that identifies as a Metis will have a right to hunt or fish without getting a license, without being afraid of being charged."

Rob Makowecki, president of the Alberta Fish and Gaming Association, said that such an agreement could endanger the future of the province's wildlife stock.

"We are very concerned that if we don't harmonize, manage together, that there is potential to jeopardize the wildlife resources, no matter which group may use them," said Makowecki. "So if you don't have a management scheme or regime up top, then the conflict grows."

Makowecki said the agreement could alienate local hunters.

"What will happen is that the [hunter] population will increase and if there is this kind of movement of people, that maybe they're going to come to Alberta and maybe from other sectors of British Columbia or whatever. And all of a sudden we have First Nation, Metis people, more and more of them that have become mobilized and then we basically eliminate the resident hunter. And that's our concern," said Makowecki. "The person who hunts here in Alberta lives here. If we start giving more and more opportunities that are special or exclusive opportunities for fairly broad use-you can hunt all year round, fish anytime you want, with certain types of minor rules-all of a sudden the conservation of our resource, maybe, comes into question."

Poitras said that conservation is a concern, but the fear that there will be an unmanageable number of people taking to the woods, streams and lakes is far-fetched.

"The only thing that will differ is the people who now go out and hunt will not have to sneak around and hide if they believe in their right and have chosen in the past not to get a license."

Calahasen sees the necessity for speed on the issue.

"I'm moving it as quickly as I can and with whatever tools I have," she said.

"Of course, everything that we deal with is that we have to make sure that whatever comes through is going to be consistent with responsible wildlife conservation and management," Calahasen added. "As people who've lived off the land, most of the Metis, and, of course, First Nations in many cases, they're very responsible in making sure they do have good conservation and management because they do know that there's got to be sustainable resources available for future generations."

Makowecki would have liked Alberta Fish and Gaming involved in discussion about the Metis agreement because their members have a long history in the province.

"We have 15,000 members, we've been a fish and game association since 1908, almost a hundred years; we've been there for so long [and] we weren't asked to participate, or at least provide some comment with regard to some agreement. So is that fair, even there? We participate in all sorts of other things and we don't get asked, so it's a real disappointment. We're just looking after the general citizens that do hunt or fish," Rob Makowecki said.

Harry Supernault, president of the Metis Settlements General Council, said the agreement is very impoant in fulfilling a right to hunt, fish or trap, but he is concerned that the stakeholders are moving too fast.

"I, for one, don't really care if it takes another two, three years. I don't want to be pushed into an agreement just because some people want to go hunt," said Supernault. "We have to be very diligent. We waited a long time for it and we've got to be careful that we're not giving away rights as opposed to recognizing what we already had."