Manitoba leaders back Mi’kmaq fishers

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This article was published 20/10/2020 (1275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s Indigenous leaders came together Wednesday to decry the violence against Mi’kmaq lobster fishers in Nova Scotia, and demand governmental action in defending Indigenous rights on the East Coast and at home in Manitoba.

Beginning with a Horse Spirit Ride from RCMP headquarters on Portage Avenue, leaders from several Indigenous groups, including the Assembly of First Nations, the Southern Chiefs Organization, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, and the Manitoba Metis Federation were joined by more than 100 supporters on the steps of the legislature to show solidarity with Mi’kmaq lobster fishers.

Leaders demanded the federal government uphold Mi’kmaq fishing rights, and facilitate a dialogue to end the conflict.

“What we are witnessing is an attack, an assault, on our aboriginal treaty rights. The aboriginal treaty rights are constitutionally protected…and today Canada has broken its own Constitution by failing to intervene in the protection of our people in Nova Scotia,” said MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said.

“That is not acceptable, and we will not stand for it here in Manitoba.”

AFN Regional Chief Kevin Hart called for a boycott of non-Indigenous Nova Scotia lobster, noting he sent a letter asking the European Union to join the boycott and halt lobster imports.

Violence towards Mi’kmaq fishers has escalated over the past two months as non-Indigenous fishers have repeatedly cut or damaged Mi’kmaq lobster traps, burned vehicles, and ransacked storage facilities. It reached a peak on Oct. 13 when commercial fishers raided and burned down two facilities where Indigenous fishers were storing their catch. A man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries in connection to the fire. The next day, Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack was assaulted. One man has been charged.

On Wednesday, the AMC called for RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki’s resignation after Lucki was quoted saying the RCMP had not let Mi’kmaq fishers down.

Leaders also called on the RCMP to fulfil their mandate to protect the Mi’kmaq from further violence.

“When we are being attacked, the RCMP just stand by and do nothing — this is unacceptable,” Settee said. “Those are criminal acts, those are acts of violence.”

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew led the crowd in chants of ‘idle no more’ and ‘Mi’kma’ki’ before launching into his remarks, noting the federal government is “abandoning their responsibility as a treaty partner” to the Mi’kmaq.

The Mi’kmaq treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood year-round was protected by a Supreme Court decision in 1999, though the term ‘moderate livelihood’ was never formally defined.

Disputes over Indigenous hunting rights are in play across the country, Kinew said, pointing to the legal debate over the Métis moose hunt in Manitoba. Earlier this month the Manitoba government banned moose hunts in the Duck Mountain and Porcupine Provincial Forest areas after planning to allow hunting of up to 60 moose for Indigenous peoples. The MMF has announced its intention to fight the decision in court.

“I also ask for you to stand up for our own rights here in Manitoba,” Kinew implored the crowd.

Will Goodon of the Métis federation echoed the NDP leader’s sentiments, telling the crowd he is “scared” of the potential for violent interactions in Manitoba over hunting disputes.

“Not only are the rights being eroded in Nova Scotia, they’re also being eroded right here in Manitoba,” Goodon said. “You see the violence that happened in Nova Scotia: racism has reared its ugly head, we don’t know what might happen here.”

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers