HALIFAX A lawsuit from a Mi kmaq First Nation in Cape Breton is alleging Ottawa breached treaty rights by prosecuting Indigenous fishers for harvesting lobster. The statement of claim by Potlotek First Nation was put before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Monday. It seeks a court order to stop the federal Fisheries Department from seizing gear and undertaking other enforcement actions against the fishers. The band cites the 1999 Donald Marshall Jr. case, where the Supreme Court of Canada interpreted 18th century treaties as providing a Mi kmaq right to fish for a moderate livelihood. A clarifying decision that followed noted the Fisheries Department could infringe on the treaty right if justified for conservation or other public purposes, also suggesting the infringement should be as little as . possible and that consultation with respect to the conservation measures should occur.
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A United Nations committee is seeking answers from Canada regarding the racism and violence Mi’kmaw lobster fishers experienced while they exercised their treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood in Nova Scotia last fall.
In a letter dated April 30, the chair for the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) asked Leslie Norton, Canada’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland to explain what Canada has done to:
Investigate alleged acts of racism, violence and vandalism against Mi’kmaw fishers and supporters
Investigate alleged lack of response by officers with the RCMP and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to protect Mi’kmaw people
Chief Mike Sack announced band members will return to St. Marys Bay and operate a five-month season, outside of the federally regulated commercial fishing…
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Michael Tutton
Michael Sack, right, chief of the Sipekne katik First Nation, presents the first lobster licence and trap tags to Randy Sack, son of the late Donald Marshall Jr., on the wharf in Saulnierville, N.S., as they launch their own self-regulated fishery on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan April 22, 2021 - 12:03 PM
HALIFAX - Ottawa and a small Mi kmaq community appear to be headed toward renewed tensions on the waters off southwest Nova Scotia as the First Nation plans another self-regulated lobster season.
The federal fisheries minister said Thursday that enforcement officers will be in place in St. Marys Bay to uphold the Fisheries Act if Sipekne katik fishers harvest lobster beginning on June 1.