Metis harvesting rights upheld in Ontario court

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On Feb. 22, the Ontario Court of Appeal lifted its year-long stay of a decision in the landmark Powley hunting rights case, and upheld the Metis right to hunt and fish for food as of Feb. 23.

"February 23rd is an historic day that all Metis will mark on their calendars," said Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO) President Tony Belcourt. "We welcome the freedom to hold our heads high as we proudly carry on our historic practice of hunting and fishing for food."

One year ago, the appeal court upheld the acquittal of Steve Powley and his son Roddy of Sault Ste. Marie from a charge of illegally hunting and possessing moose. At the same time the court ordered a one-year stay of judgement in the matter of Metis harvesting practices generally, and it ordered the provincial government during that year "to establish a scheme that accords due respect and recognition" to Metis' Constitutional rights.

Despite the order, talks between the government and the Metis did not get underway until October last year, said Belcourt, who met with Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) John Snobelen at the end of February this year to review progress.

"The meeting with John Snobelen went extremely well," said Belcourt. He said both sides want to negotiate an agreement and "want to signal to our constituencies that that's what we want to do."

Belcourt added, however, that negotiations so far "really haven't been negotiations so much as they've been education. Our negotiating team has been educating the Ontario government negotiators on the nature of the historic Metis communities in Ontario, because they've steadfastly refused to acknowledge or recognize their existence."

But now the two sides are talking. Belcourt said the minister "very much appreciated our approach. He felt we were pragmatic and reasonable people to deal with, and that was one of the reasons he wanted to continue the negotiations. He felt that a negotiated agreement with the Metis people would be far preferable to having nothing."

Belcourt added that up to now they have had the opportunity to "dispel some myths, present some facts and get to the point where the ministry can then start, on the basis of facts, planning how it was going to recognize the Metis right to hunt and fish for food."

The MNO president said the biggest challenge for the government is who will get this right.

"The courts have ruled that the Metis right exists and it is the same as it is for First Nations."

It is still a bone of contention for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) that the question of who the Metis people are has not been settled.

Belcourt insists the MNO is the only Metis group in Ontario with a hunting and fishing policy in place, and he doesn't accept the membership criteria of the group OMAA, the Ontario Metis Aboriginal Association, as valid. OMAA, however, has also been lobbying successive governments for implementation of its members' section 35 rights.

Belcourt said because of doubts about Metis identity, MNO has had to push the Metis right to hunt and fish "over and over" at the provincial negotiating table.

"In whatever way you recognize the Metis right, it can't be dissimilar to the way you recognize First Nations rights. In other words, we're not going to accept the tag system, as much as you want us to accept tags. Even if you want to give us a tag for every Metis harvester-a tag system is a dirty word to our people."

The alternative, Belcourt said, "is to get them to recognize our Metis harvesters' cards as the only piece of identification that they need to worry about."

Another area of disagreement between the Metis and the province is that Ontario "wants us to buy into their seasons. Well, First Nations aren't obliged to hunt and fish within MNR seasons anywhere. And Metis are saying, we have seasons. We have our own. We spell them out in the Metis Nation of Ontario harvesting policy.

"Our season for big game is September through to the end of Decemer. And throughout Ontario, depending on the wildlife management unit, the seasons are limited to a specific period of weeks or months. In some areas a season is limited to one week. That's ridiculous . . . to say we're going to limit the Metis right to hunt and fish for food to a one-week period."

Belcourt said that does not mean they want to go out and kill all the game if it is scarce. He said in appropriate circumstances, after consultation with their communities, their captains of the hunt may either limit or expand the harvesting season.

Historically the Metis and OFAH, a sports anglers and hunters' group, have differed on questions surrounding licensing requirements and harvesting rights. Both groups have said they uphold the principles of conservation.

On Feb. 23 this year, however, Belcourt was the keynote speaker at the annual general meeting of OFAH in Kingston.

"It went extremely well," said Belcourt, who remembers the hostility and accusations back and forth a year ago.

This time, however, "there were people lined up at the mikes after my presentation to commend us and to say . . . all of their concerns are addressed in our harvesting policy. Many of the people . . . were saying 'too bad we didn't know about this before, because our concerns are being addressed here'."

Mark Holmes, communications director for OFAH, said Belcourt and the information he imparted was well received.

"There was consensus among most people that the Metis harvesting plan, which is really at issue . . . because of the conservation implications, people were relieved to hear some of the thought that has gone into it, and the thinking behind it, and the practices that will be employed, if they aren't already."

Holmes said the two groups are on a good footing "considering a year ago at the conference the war of words was launched." The problem had been "some misunderstanding and a lack of communication." Both parties, Holmes said, took steps to "improve those lines of comunication."

He added that he believes the two organizations can work together and agree to disagree on some issues.

"I think where our concerns lie are the reporting mechanisms, to make sure that we know, not just from the Metis perspective, but all perspectives, what the harvest of a species is, and to make sure that that harvest level is sustainable."

The MNO has processed 9,000 membership applications and another 3,000 are being processed. Of the validated membership, 1,200 people have been issued harvesting certificates over the past eight years. Not all wanted a certificate for hunting, and not all wanted to hunt moose. Slightly more than 450 MNO members "actually harvest moose."

Belcourt pointed out "that OFAH still thinks they need to take those groups (such as OMAA) seriously and be worried about them."

He explained, "we shouldn't have to try to find ways to limit the Metis right to hunt because of some suspicion that there might be 100,000 out there-this phantom group and phantom numbers. That's a problem we continue to have" with the government and OFAH, which fuels their call for harvesting tags to track everybody.

The change in Ontario government leadership may signal another delay on establishing timelines for negotiating an agreement between the Metis and the province. Belcourt said his group had spent "a lot of time at the Conservative (party) convention" and have established a good relationship with premier-elect Ernie Eves.

But he also said he also won't be surprised to see Snobelen moved in a cabinet shuffle, which could delay talks.