Another cruel blow to our hunting rights and heritage by way of the constitution!!

[carnivore]

The Supreme Court of Canada says an American Indigenous man has a constitutionally protected right to hunt in British Columbia given his people's historic ties to the region.
The decision today comes in the case of Richard Lee Desautel, a U.S. citizen who was charged with hunting without a licence after shooting an elk near Castlegar, B.C.
Desautel defended his actions on the basis he had an Aboriginal right to hunt protected by section 35(1) of Canada's Constitution Act.
Desautel is a member of the Lakes Tribe of the Colville Confederated Tribes of Washington state, a successor of the Sinixt people, whose ancestral territory extended into B.C.
The trial judge found the sections of B.C.'s Wildlife Act under which Desautel was charged had infringed his constitutional right to hunt in the province.
The decision was upheld by the B.C. Supreme Court and the province's Court of Appeal, prompting the Crown to take its case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2021.:evil:

[Gun Dog]

This started because the Federal government declared the Sinixt band extinct even though they were still around. The Trudeau Senior government created a constitution without understanding it. Or maybe he did.

[Arctic Lake]

Sheesh !
Arctic Lake

[puddlejumper]

This started because the Federal government declared the Sinixt band extinct even though they were still around. The Trudeau Senior government created a constitution without understanding it. Or maybe he did.

Will be interesting to see if Canadian Indigenous groups located along the borders take the opportunity to similarly exercise their rights in the US. The decision could also be attributed to the notion that a border was formed by the Canadian and US Governments of the day where previously there was none, and without reading the decision, may have also recognized dual citizenship. With regards to the Constitution, that was created in 1867, Senior Trudeau amended it, along with a congregation of Premiers from across the country that included Bill Bennett from BC. This decision is not a cruel blow to the non-indigenous privilege of hunting and actually re-establishes the heritage of what was assumed to be an extinct people. The courts findings that these people exist and that they retain traditional ties to the land that was not extinguished by forming a border was obviously defensible in court as this guy won the decision which the current Jr. Trudeau Canadian Gov. would have thrown a ton of $ towards fighting against.

Instead of complaining all the time, we should be working together to improve wildlife management in BC and create greater opportunity. Why in the US are once near extinct species recovering and hunting opportunities being created when all we do in BC is sit, whine and watch the decline of opportunity due to half-ass management practices?

[Mulehahn]

I agree this is a sad day. But not just for hunting. Foreign citizens, who have no legal obligations or commitments in Canada were just given more Constitutional RIGHTS than 95% of the population. Not abilities or options. RIGHTS. The courts just. Decided that someone who has never done anything in Canada besides take, has never contributed to. This country in anyway now has more rights than 36 million other people that continue to build this country. That is sad.

[cdub]

Was he guided? How does transporting and using a firearm come into play? Can he hunt with a handgun if he chooses? There is more than just the hunting aspect here.

[MichelD]

Was he guided? How does transporting and using a firearm come into play? Can he hunt with a handgun if he chooses? There is more than just the hunting aspect here.

I'm not lawyer but I suspect that aboriginal or not, he would still require a Canadian PAL to have a firearm in Canada.

I know a fellow who is a PAL instructor and he has done many courses for the local band where he lives.

[cdub]

But he is not a local, he is a US citizen, was he charged with firearms violations as well?


I'm not lawyer but I suspect that aboriginal or not, he would still require a Canadian PAL to have a firearm in Canada.

I know a fellow who is a PAL instructor and he has done many courses for the local band where he lives.

[MichelD]

But he is not a local, he is a US citizen, was he charged with firearms violations as well?

Not in anything that I read. Maybe he had a Canadian PAL already. Americans can apply for and get them. That's what guided hunters do.

[Bigdoggdon]

You just watch the whole band of them is packing their bags to move to Canada, they get way more free stuff here.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Let me see - a US INDIAN comes to BC canada from wash USA and shoots a elk and its all OK ! OUR TAX $$ paid Judges think this is All OK ?? Really ?? what a phucked up legal system we have - it's a complete Farce ! jmo RJ

[gutpile]

There was a time in Canada when most people considered that the Indians lost the land of Canada, just by shear number of
immigrants that came to this country . now most Indians didn't have a concept of ownership of private property .
in historical times Indians would raid other tribes killing each other and take slaves and women as slaves .
So some tribes would always lose their hunting grounds by other tribes , so this is how we should treat modern times, now we
live in their lost traditional grounds . Happens all over the world , any other way of dealing with ancestral lands will only infuriate the majority
of people and these cases will never stop, because people have been brain washed into thinking we still own the Indians from the past and we can't move forward
as a nation .

[boxhitch]

because people have been brain washed into thinking we still own the Indians from the past and we can't move forward
as a nation .

Freudian slip ?

[BydeIt]

There will be no opportunity for Indigenous Canadians to attempt anything similar in traditional territory extending into the USA because their constitution does not allow for this kind of nonsense. It truly is nonsense when a country’s foundational legal underpinnings grant rights like these to aliens.

Arguments about traditional territory trumping national boundaries undermine the notion of countries altogether. People pay taxes to a National government that represents their interests. There’s no point to that if aliens that don’t contribute can come and take based on a claim from some long dead relative.

Everyone has an ancestor that was abused and got kicked out of a region. For some reason, in Canada, if that ancestor was native, you get special treatment.