Originally Posted by
Looking_4_Jerky
I agree that the problem is out of hand. I do think that the offenders within each FN group are probably outnumbered by members that would like to see resources managed appropriately. To the best of my knowledge, I'm not aware of any band or nation being able to set laws with real penalties for members that don't follow the wishes (formal or not) of chief and/or council. So each indigenous individual's Aboriginal Right to hunt are enshrined in Sec 35 of the constitution, upheld by court decisions at every turn, but there is no mechanism for enforcement even when FN administrations do decide to work independently or collaboratively to manage wildlife resources better. That seems like the main shortcoming of our current system to me. I'm not sure how that could change. I know many of the ill-educated on this site think "government policies" are to blame, but the only policy relevant here is the Canadian constitution. Constitutional reform is possible, but I imagine no party is going to be willing to stick their neck out far enough to pitch "Constitutional reform for the purposes of better restricting indigenous peoples' ability to access and harvest fish and wildlife". Good luck with that one.