Fishing charges dropped against La Loche resident

The Alberta government has stopped court proceedings against a Métis man charged with illegal fishing.
Alfred Janvier of La Loche was charged with fishing without a domestic license when he set nets in Gregoire Lake in
northeastern Alberta. The matter went to court June 25.
Darcy Whiteside, spokesperson for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, said the province will be reviewing the rules on issuing domestic fishing licenses and therefore decided not to proceed with the charges.
Domestic fishing licenses are needed
in order to set nets but can only be issued to Alberta residents.
"We're seeing if that will remain status quo or if we'll be opening it up to other
provinces," said Whiteside.
The issue, said Bill Loutitt, Region 1 president of the Métis Nation of Alberta, is that Janvier's family has traditional
harvesting lands which cross provincial lines.
"This family does move quite a
bit into Alberta. We do know that. The history of this family goes back a long
ways," said Loutitt. "This is probably not something (the government) wants
pushed through. (Dropping charges) stall tactics all the way along."
Jean Teillet, an MNA lawyer on cases similar to Janvier's, said Janvier was trying to get charged in order to have the court rule on the issue of cross border harvesting for Métis.
"It's difficult that we can't deal with the cross border issue in any other way than through litigation. And if the Crown keeps
dropping charges we can never deal with it. It's the Crown being able to avoid
coming to grips with an issue that's of fair importance to people up in that neighbourhood," said Teillet.
The nomadic life of the Métis is what is being challenged, said Loutitt, whether it's the issue of cross border harvesting as
in Janvier's case or the issue of the three Métis harvesters who were charged
for hunting without a license. The hunters were a part of traditional Métis hunts near the Cypress Hills and Pincher Creek areas and are returning to Medicine Hat Provincial Court in September to continue with their trial.
"We have no real land base, so it's not feasible to determine a community base,"
said Loutitt. "The government is saying that the real Métis are the ones on
settlements and will allow them hunting within their lands. But how about the
Métis they haven't settled with?"
As it stands, Métis in Alberta have the
right to hunt and fish within a 100 mile radius of whichever of the 17 Métis
community bases their genealogy can be traced back to.
Janvier's case and the Medicine Hat trial are "very similar. There's very little to distinguish them on the facts," said Teillet, who is part of the legal team for the men charged in the south. "My clients would take the position that they can prove Métis rights in the Medicine Hat area."
Whiteside noted that there is no legislation in Alberta specific to illegal Métis hunting or fishing. "You're never charged with
Métis harvesting. That doesn't exist in our legislation. So you're charged, for example, with hunting without a license or hunting out of season."