Trial begins for Métis

Medicine Hat News

http://www.medicinehatnews.com/content/view/97015/27/

Trial begins for Métis

ALEX MCCUAIG

The three men accused of breaching hunting regulations as part of the Métis “Hunt for Justice” campaign made a four-block march Monday morning down to the Medicine Hat Courthouse, surrounded by 40 supporters.

Garry Hirsekorn, Bruce Bates and Ron Jones took part in hunts near Cypress Hills, Blairmore and Suffield respectively beginning in late 2007. The aim was to establish recognized gathering rights in southern Alberta for Métis.

The province’s lawyers are contesting that the men do not meet the conditions of the Powley Decision – a Supreme Court ruling which gives a legal framework for identifying Métis.

However, the men’s lawyer Jean Teillet said, “Powley has morphed.”

She said she expects to prove not just the hunting rights for Métis throughout Alberta but a huge swath of the country stretching from the Great Lakes to the Rockies.

“The Métis have a history of hunting throughout the northwest ... the lands in question are the lands traditional hunted by the Métis of the northwest.”

Alberta Justice aboriginal law attorney Thomas G. Rothwell said any suggestion that denying these hunting rights is a rejection of Métis couldn’t be any further than the truth.

“You may be Métis but you may not be part of a rights bearing community. Individuals may say ‘what is the point of being Métis, that is what my culture is about?’ That is what we are here to decide.”

The criminal aspect of the case took less than an hour with an agreed statement of facts entered into evidence and a guilty verdict rendered pending the constitutional challenge.

The majority of the day was spent with Teillet and Rothwell going back and forth over case law on whether the province must disclose a report on the Métis.

Teillet argued the report commissioned for the province by Heather Devine be made available to the defence while Rothwell countered that the document did not have to be released under government privilege.

Judge Ted Fisher set aside his decision on that matter until Monday at the latest.

A total of 40 witnesses are expected to take the stand over at least three sessions that will run until the end of the year.

Audrey Poitras, president of the Métis Nation of Alberta, is expected to testify Tuesday.