Alleged Preferential Treatment Regarding Hunting and Fishing Rights

Aboriginal peoples have always retained significant hunting, fishing and trapping rights that are distinct from those enjoyed by other Quebecers. In some cases, Aboriginal people enjoy priority, and even exclusive, rights. Interest groups often attempt to make this out to be a form of preferential treatment or even discrimination against non-Aboriginal citizens but in Chapter 4 we saw that the existence of distinct rights is not incompatible with the affirmation of the right to equality enshrined in our charters of rights and freedoms. Special situations may demand that if certain groups are to have equality, they must have distinct rights. That is why, since 1982, the Canadian Constitution has formally recognized that Aboriginal peoples have special rights because they occupied the territory prior to the arrival of Europeans: this is what is meant by “Aboriginal rights.” In the case of the Cree, Inuit and Naskapi beneficiaries of treaties with the governments of Québec and Canada, they are referred to as “treaty rights and freedoms.”

Moreover, the right of ethnic minorities to maintain and develop their own cultural interests with the other members of their group is a human right protected by section 43 of the Québec Charter of human rights and freedoms. Their right to enjoy their own culture is also protected under international law, by virtue of article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. More recently, the United Nations Human Rights Committee observed that “culture manifests itself in many forms, including a particular way of life associated with the use of land resources, especially in the case of indigenous peoples.” The Committee went on to state that the enjoyment of cultural rights “may require positive legal measures of protection and measures to ensure the effective participation of members of minority communities in decisions which affect them.” (United Nations 1994, 3-4)

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2007 and discussed in Chapter 4, goes much further in recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples. It clearly states that, as distinct peoples, Indigenous peoples have the right “to be secure in the enjoyment of their own means of subsistence and development, and to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic activities.” (art. 20-1) Indigenous peoples also “have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.” (art. 26-1) Accordingly, states have a duty to “give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources… with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.” (art. 26-3) (United Nations 2007)

Aboriginal peoples’ traditional hunting, fishing and trapping pursuits testify to a special kind of land use. overnments have tried to control these activities since the 1930s, a time when wildlife and the Aboriginal way of life were threatened by the abusive practices of non-Aboriginal people. To address the situation, Québec, in cooperation with the federal government, established an extensive network of hunting reserves for fur-bearing animals. This network of sanctuaries and reserves, commonly referred to as “beaver reserves,” still exists. The network is an impressive 232,500 km2 in size, covering nearly 80 per cent of Québec. Each beaver reserve is subdivided into family hunting grounds where Aboriginal people have the exclusive right to trap fur-bearing animals. However, this system did not protect Aboriginal people against concurrent development activities. All too often in the past, Aboriginal families would find themselves in a forest company’s lumberyard or see their land flooded or otherwise affected by development, as if they did not even exist.

This special system, although little known to the general public, shows that the rights and activities of Aboriginal people extend far beyond the confined area of an Indian reserve. Reserves are parcels of land set aside for the permanent residence of most First Nations communities. This system also shows that Québec is not a wasteland, but rather a territory in respect of which Aboriginal peoples have a sense of belonging and responsibility.

Furthermore, the widely held view that Aboriginal people are not subject to any hunting or fishing rules or restrictions is far from true. Several years ago, the Ilnu (Innu) community of Mashteuiatsh in Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean showed leadership by establishing a system of territorial officers and adopting a code of practice for wildlife harvesting. And it is not alone. A number of First Nations communities have adopted systems for closely monitoring wildlife harvesting. In 2014, the Ekuanitshit Innu in the Côte-Nord region adopted a fishery regulation to foster the long-term survival of salmon in the Romaine river and sustain subsistence fishing in the river. (Conseil des Innus 2014) As well, the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam adopted a salmon-fishing code for the Moisie river. The same as in other communities, territorial officers are responsible for ensuring best practices. In the Gaspésie, the Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation adop­ted its own fishery regulation to prohibit the catching of adult salmon and thereby contribute to salmon conservation efforts in the Restigouche and Kedgwick river basins in New Brunswick. (Radio-Canada 2013) And since 2015, area wardens from the Huron-Wendat Nation have been trained as wildlife protection assistants. Primarily assigned to the Tourilli sector of the Parc des Laurentides, these new wildlife protection assistants ensure that fishers and hunters comply with quotas and also intervene in cases of poaching or other unlawful acts. (Conseil de la Nation huronne-wendat 2017) These are just a few examples. 

Since 2016, the Indigenous nations of Québec and Canada have joined forces to create the National Indigenous Guardians Network.

The National Indigenous Guardians Network is an Indigenous-led, federally funded initiative. There is a similar program in Australia and it has been hugely successful.