News & Events
Fishing issue about much more than conservation
May 4, 2010
I would like to respond to the editorial in the April 25 edition of the Brandon Sun, which was titled Rights must balance with sense.
On the positive side, I was glad to see the Sun and its big sister the Free Press pay attention to an issue that has been ignored by most non-Indigenous media. On the negative side, the editorial misses the point, which is that conservation isn't the main issue for the government, unless, of course, you count conserving Stan Struthers seat in the provincial legislature.
Stan Struthers isn't a red neck, but his political people must know that a few red neck votes will come in handy when he seeks re-election in the normally tight Dauphin area riding.
Treaty fishers, like Treaty hunters, always make a convenient target when the game and fish guys feel like getting riled up about something.
This is an issue that could result in landmark court rulings, because the West Region Tribal Council is prepared to take the issue to the Supreme Court if the province insists on pursuing prosecution - and persecution - of Indigenous fishermen.
Last year the province imposed a ban on spring fishing for pickerel on two tributaries flowing into the lake and this year it banned fishing on three tributaries. This ban flies in the face of the inherent rights of Indigenous people to fish for food.
This ban also contravenes Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, which requires the government to consult Indigenous people sincerely on this type of issue. Our province's view of consultation is to tell Indian people what it is going to do.
This does not qualify as consultation but it does reflect how provincial cabinet members view Indians. They see themselves as "daddy" and us as "children." To use George Bush's phrase, they want to be the "deciders."
The province has been largely successful in portraying the issue as being solely one of conservation. They ignore both the historical and current damage caused by non-Aboriginal commercial fishing and by sports-fishing. The issue isn't conservation; it is who gets to use the resource.
And this is the political reality for Stan Struthers, NDP MLA for Dauphin-Roblin. Blame-the-Indian has taken hold among a lot of people in the Dauphin area including casual fishers.
Responsibility for fish management should be under the Conservation department, where Bill Blaikie is minister. Now it is listed as under Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick.
However, when the Manitoba Government defended its actions in the media, Struthers, who is Minister of Agriculture, was the spokesman. Can there be any doubt who owns the big voice when the provincial cabinet discusses this issue. It sounds as if Struthers is the decider on this one.
The NDP likes to portray itself as the friend of Indiansa. I am sure the party - or at its least leadership - thinks our voters have no where else to turn in a province where the only formidable opposition force is the Progressive Conservatives. NDP strategists are certain we will either vote NDP or stay home at election time.
A party doesn't win three elections in a row without appreciating the harsh realities of politics. These realities definitely come into play in a place like Dauphin-Roblin, which has only one Indian Nation within its boundaries. When in opposition, the NDP are generously ideological. In power, they are shrewd operators.
If the provincial government was going to insist on bringing in a spring ban, it should put a moratorium on enforcement of the ban against Indigenous while a test case moves through the court system.
Failing that, the province should have charged a Chief or a Grand Chief, rather than ignore us and pester individual fishers who are getting food for their families.
We issued that challenge when we fished one day last spring and one day this spring. Both times the province was alerted in advance so they could charge a Chief or a Grand Chief. Last spring an officer came to the site but nobody was charged. This year conservation officers never responded.
Last year conservation officers charged two fishers from the Keeseekoowenin several days after the Chiefs and Grand Chiefs fished. This year they began laying charges days before the fishing ceremony.
The province wants to intimidate individual fishers, some who are without income except for welfare. The province is a bully. It thinks these people can't afford a legal defence and that nobody will help them. The government has calculated wrong.
There are models elsewhere in North American where Indigenous interests and non-Aboriginal governments have worked together on conservation and setting such things fishing limits. In Manitoba, the government refuses to see us as a partner.
One last thing. Fish populations thrived for many, many centuries. How does the province's record of resource management stack up? Not too well.
Grand Chief Morris J. Swan Shannacappo of the Southern Chiefs' Organization.