The Interim Métis Harvesting Agreements

The Issue
In late September of 2004, the Alberta Government struck interim agreements with the Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) and the Métis Settlements General Council (MSGC) to allow members of these organizations, and persons eligible for membership in these organizations, the right to hunt, trap or fish, for subsistence purposes, without licences and at all seasons of the year. These people can do so on the following lands in Alberta:

• all unoccupied Crown lands;
• provincial protected areas and other occupied Crown lands in Alberta that have a designation for hunting, trapping or fishing;
• any privately owned lands in Alberta on which the person described above has permission by the owner or occupant to hunt, trap or fish.

Although these people do not require a licence, they are subject to any closures or restrictions for conservation or safety purposes.

Why?
In September of 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld successive lower court rulings in Ontario where charges of hunting moose without a licence were dismissed against Steve and Roddy Powley, two members of a Métis community near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Prior to this final court ruling, the MNA and MSGC had been negotiating with the Alberta Government to establish Métis harvesting rights. After the Supreme Court ruling, Alberta decided to proceed to an interim agreement with these organizations to satisfy the Supreme Court ruling.

However, the Supreme Court ruling was very specific about the Powley case only applying to members of a particular Métis community with historic traditions of subsistence hunting on traditional lands for the purpose—not the broad rights granted by the Alberta Government to all Métis in these interim agreements.

What are the Consequences?
By granting such broad rights that go beyond the intent of the Supreme Court ruling, the Alberta Government has significantly increased the amount of unregulated hunting, fishing and trapping in the province. The 2001 Canada Census estimated about 65,000 people claim to be Métis in Alberta. Others have estimated that prior to these agreements about 20,000 of these people were licence-purchasing hunters, fishers or trappers. Under the broad definition outlined in the agreements, each of the 65,000 people could claim aboriginal harvesting rights and hunt, fish or trap year around without having to register their intent to do so, the number of animals they harvest or where they harvest. In other words, it will be impossible to adequately manage the game and fur harvested.

Unlike the Métis people addressed in the Supreme Court ruling, most of the Métis defined in the Alberta agreements have not been hunting, fishing or trapping traditionally for subsistence on Métis settlement lands or other lands traditionally hunted by Métis. Another problem is that nobody really knows how many people are or will be affected. It is up to the MNA or MSGC to define what constitutes a member or a person eligible for membership in their organizations. As a result, the government does not really know what the impact of these agreements will be.

Who Are the Métis?
As defined by the Métis National Council (www.metisnation.ca): “Métis means a person who self-identifies as Métis, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry, is distinct from other Aboriginal Peoples and is accepted by the Métis Nation.” Further, “‘Historic Métis Nation’ means the Aboriginal people then known as Métis or Half-Breeds who resided in Historic Métis Nation Homeland; ‘Historic Métis Nation Homeland’ means the area of land in west central North America used and occupied as the traditional territory of the Métis or Half-Breeds as they were then known; ‘Métis Nation’ means the Aboriginal people descended from the Historic Métis Nation, which is now comprised of all Métis Nation citizens and is one of the ‘aboriginal peoples of Canada’ within s.35 of the Constitution Act of 1982; and ‘Distinct from other Aboriginal Peoples’ means distinct for cultural and nationhood purposes.”

In Alberta, the Métis Betterment Act of the 1950s (which was replaced by the Métis Settlement Act in 1990) provided Métis people in Alberta who lived in eight Métis settlement areas with exclusive and traditional rights to hunt those lands. The eight settlement areas are Buffalo Lake, East Prairie, Elizabeth, Fishing Lake, Gift Lake, Kikino, Paddle Prairie, and Peavine. In effect, this legislation already provides the rights granted to Ontario Métis in the Powley ruling. So, why is Alberta expanding these rights to include all Métis in all the province? No public consultation was made prior to the signing of the interim agreements. Shouldn’t the people making these decisions be hearing from you?