Should There be a Limit to
Aboriginal Rights
By: Madylin vanVliet
Canada is a very diverse country and allows
many different religious and cultural
practices, FNMI (First Nations, Metis, Inuit)
culture as well.There are a set of right given
exclusively to the FNMI of Canada that
involves hunting, land, and more. However,
an issue has recently risen about hunting
laws given to Aboriginal people which
proves there should be a limit to Aboriginal
Rights.
In 2010, an American Aboriginal man was
charged for hunting in the Arrow Lakes area
which is traditional territory in British
Columbia. ​Richard Lee Desautel was
caught hunting a cow elk without a license.
He quickly declined the charges saying he
was exercising his Canadian constitutional
aboriginal right to hunt for ceremonial
purposes. The government argued that the
Aboriginal constitutional right did not apply
to him since he was not apart of a
Aboriginal group of Canada.
In response to Desautel hunting, the British
Columbia Court decided on May 2nd 2019
to extend section 35 of Aboriginal Rights to
Aboriginal people who are not residents or
citizens of Canada. Section 35 previously
stated “The existing aboriginal and treaty
rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada
are hereby recognized and affirmed.”
however British Columbia plans to extend
this treaty to all Aboriginals.
Arrow Lakes
It is illegal for Canadians who do not belong
to a FNMI group to hunt without a permit so
to allow someone who doesn’t live in our
country to do as they wish seems wrong.
When travellers or immigrants come to our
country the must follow our laws, this is the
same thing.
Also, hunting is dangerous. Between
Canada and the United States, 1,000
people get accidentally shot by hunters
each year. To have unregistered hunter that
causes an unnecessary risk put citizens in
danger raises the question, is one person's
freedom more important than another's
safety?
In Sasakechan, Non-Residents may get a
license to hunt black bears, moose, and
white tailed deers however non-residents
cannot hunt elk. A majority of elks can only
be hunted on farms that raise elks for that
reason. The rest of the elk population in
Canada would be found in national parks
since for a period of time elks were
considered endangered because of being
over hunted.
An Elk
Aboriginal rights should have a limit. It is an
issue of safety for both people and animals.
Of course religion and cultural beliefs
should continue to be respected and
practiced in Canada but so should the laws
of our country.