Métis hunting case returns to court

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 | 6:08 PM CT

CBC News

A Métis hunter resumed his legal battle with the Manitoba government Tuesday over the right of the Métis to hunt without a provincial licence.

Will Goodon was charged two years ago, after he shot a duck without a provincial licence. He possessed a Métis "harvester" card, which was issued by the Manitoba Métis Federation, but the province has refused to recognize those cards. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, alleging that hunting is his birthright.

The trial started in May and resumed last week in a Brandon, Man., courtroom. There will be another week set aside in November to continue the trial, and lawyers are now talking about setting aside a few weeks early next year.

Goodon said Tuesday the trial has disrupted his family's life, but the case is not about him or his family.

Battle about Metis way of life: Goodon

"It's about the Métis and the constitutionally protected rights that we have, that we've already fought for and won once, at the Supreme Court," Goodon said Tuesday.

"We've got to do it all over again here in Manitoba because our premier and our minister of conservation doesn't believe that we have these rights. We just want to continue the fight. Historially, the Métis have been known as fighters who battle for what they perceive to be right, and that's exactly what we're doing here today."

Goodon was referring to a 2003 Supreme Court ruling, known as the Powley decision, which gave full status-Indian hunting rights -- the right to hunt and fish for food out of season and without a provincial licence -- to Métis who can prove a connection to a stable, continuous community.

Jean Teillet, Goodon's lawyer, said Tuesday that her client's hunting rights have been demonstrated through the Powley decision, and she hasn't heard anything different so far in the trial.

"I'm hearing very little opposition from the Crown to this whole part of proving the right, which is a little frustrating because it leads me to the reluctant conclusion that we shouldn't be here on proving the right."

The Manitoba government has said there is disagreement about the implications of that case.

[Source]

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