MNR returns nets seized in 2005

[Spiel]

MNR returns nets seized in 2005

 

Metis fisherman says he’s still owed an apology

 

By Bill Henry

Owen Sound Sumn Times

 

Southampton Metis fisherman Jim McLay on Friday finally got back gill nets that conservation officers seized more than two years ago.

 

But neither the apology the Sanguingue Metis Council president says he is owed, nor the 54 whitefish also seized Oct. 29, 2005, came with the two boxes of nets, four marker buoys and two anchor chains that were returned to him.

 

With Metis council members, his children and invited reporters at the loading dock at his home on the Saugeen River, just steps away from several First Nations fishing tugs, the former commercial fisherman lectured conservation officers as they delivered his gear.

 

He said he wanted them to tell the crowd he had done nothing wrong and later asked about an apology.

 

“I can’t give you that apology,” said Robert Gibson, Ministry of Natural Resources enforcement supervisor with the Upper Great Lakes Management Area.

 

McLay and Gibson debated, mostly amiably, their versions of what happened.

 

They agreed the law now gives McLay — and other Metis people registered with the Metis Nation of Ontario — the right to catch fish for social, ceremonial and personal use. They disagreed on when that law actually took effect.

 

McLay believes it began with a July 2004 agreement between the ministry and the Ontario Metis Nation.

 

That agreement came on the heels of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling on a Sault Ste. Marie case which effectively extended Metis rights to sustenance and ceremonial hunting.

 

But Gibson said the agreement only affected Metis hunting rights in traditional territories north of the French River. Those rights did not extend to southern Ontario until after a judge ruled last June 1 that ministry officials should honour the agreement throughout the province.

 

McLay said the June ruling proves he was doing nothing wrong when conservation officers seized his gear. He said he was fishing for his own consumption and for ceremonial food, which was to be served to about 30 people at the Sanguingue Metis Nations annual fall banquet.

 

“I feel that I deserve an apology,” he said. “Those fish weren’t just for myself, they were for our citizens, children and elders.”

 

McLay was never charged with any offence, but said he has not fished in over two years because ministry staff threatened to also seize his boat.

 

“The main point of today is that I did nothing wrong and I want my children to know that,” McLay said before his nets were returned. “I’m not getting off on a technicality. I didn’t find a loophole, I did nothing wrong. I was acting completely within the agreement that the Metis Nation of Ontario had with the Ministry of National Resources.”

 

Earlier Friday, Gibson said in a telephone interview the officers were responding to complaints from local First Nation commercial fishermen about illegal gill netting within their quota area. The officers seized from McLay a half-mile of gill net, enough to catch 2,000 pounds of whitefish in a day under favourable conditions.

 

At the time the Metis’ agreement with MNR did not extend to southern Ontario and the enforcement officers also doubted McLay was fishing for his own purposes. At the time, under terms of the Fish and Wildlife Act, only licensed commercial fishermen could legally possess gill nets, Gibson said.

 

“The ministry acted correctly in this situation. We were acting on the laws that were in place . . . If you’ve got a net set that is a quarter of a mile long, usually a guy is setting for commercial purposes. Are you going to be using 1,000 pounds of fish for personal use?

 

“These were some of the questions that were going through some of our heads. That’s why the nets were seized at that point in time.”

 

McLay said ministry staff “reneged” on the July 2004 agreement between the Metis Nation and the MNR “almost immediately.”

 

Believing the agreement should cover all of Ontario, he said the Metis nation challenged three charges against Metis people for harvesting under terms of the agreement.

 

That led to the June decision and the change in enforcement policies, Gibson said.

 

“Our legal advice here is basically as long as they’re harvesting under the authority of a harvester’s card that is issued by the Metis Nation of Ontario, we’re supposed to take that into account when we’re doing an investigation.”

 

Dockside Friday, McLay also wanted to know what happened to his 54 whitefish. Gibson said they were processed locally and given to a charity.

 

McLay said he has thought about his fishing gear every day for the almost 800 days since it was seized. He also said he expects different treatment now that the law is clarified. He said he has nothing to hide and offered to let conservation officers know ahead of time if he plans to fish.

 

“This is not an end, it’s a beginning,” he said. “And what I hope it does is convince the ministry to stop what I essentially refer to a bullying tactics.”