As the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories prepares to conduct a judicial review concerning hunting rights in the Sahtu region, the chief of Colville Lake says his community already has the traditional knowledge to manage the local caribou population.
SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e been doing this all our life, and itSA国际影视传媒檚 just natural to us,SA国际影视传媒� said Wilbert Kochon.
At the heart of the case is a tag and quota system that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) uses to limit hunting of the vulnerable Bluenose West caribou herd. Following the first of a series of public hearings on caribou conservation in the region, the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board (SRRB) recommended that the tag and quota system be replaced by a community management plan. However, ENR ruled that the Colville Lake Renewable Resources Council (CLRRC) does not have the authority to manage such a plan. This and subsequent rulings by the department prompted the CLRRC, the Behdzi Ahda First Nation and the Ayoni Keh Land Corporation to file a lawsuit.
The Supreme Court will now have to decide if ENR Minister Shane Thompson was justified in his rulings.
SA国际影视传媒淯ltimately, we think it comes down to a misunderstanding on the part of the minister of what the treaty requires, and perhaps a mistrust of the ability of the Dene to do what they have always done, which is manage their own relationship with caribou,SA国际影视传媒� said Larry Innes, a lawyer representing the applicants in court.
Deline has a similar community management plan that ENR approved.
SA国际影视传媒淭hat is the outcome that Colville Lake would like to see,SA国际影视传媒� said Innes. SA国际影视传媒淭hey believe that they have a system of managing the harvest of caribou within their community. That system has worked for 10,000 years, and theySA国际影视传媒檝e managed to maintain a relationship with caribou following their system and their laws.SA国际影视传媒�
Currently, the parties are awaiting a decision from Justice Andrew Mahar on whether the SRRB and the Inuvialuit Game Council will be allowed to join the lawsuit as interested parties. Although CLRRC took no stance on the SRRBSA国际影视传媒檚 request to join the lawsuit, Innes said the council opposed the Inuvialuit Game Council joining the lawsuit SA国际影视传媒渟imply on the grounds that this is a matter that is dealt with within the Sahtu settlement area, and in accordance with the Sahtu treaty. So we think it added unnecessary complexity to a case that is, frankly, already complicated enough.SA国际影视传媒�
The decision to allow the two parties to join the lawsuit is expected to be made in April.
Kochon said he hopes his community and ENR can work together rather than against each other.
SA国际影视传媒淚 think that would be the best solution,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
ItSA国际影视传媒檚 anticipated that the judicial review will take place in the fall.
A spokesperson for the GNWT cabinet said Thompson could not comment on the case while the matter is before the courts.
SA国际影视传媒 also reached out to the legal team representing the GNWT in court. The request was forwarded to the Department of Justice, who also declined to comment on a matter before the courts.
Neither the SRRB nor the Inuvialuit Game Council returned a request for comment.
