In a recent case called R. v. Badger The Supreme Court of Canada rule that hunting on private land was acceptable in certain cases. The land must not be used for a purpose that interfered with hunting. For example if there was a farm or a house near or on the land. The court looked at three cases of Albertan natives hunting on private land.
All three Natives were members of Treaty 8, signed in 1899. All were charged with offenses under Alberta’s Wildlife Act. Each member said that Treaty 8 allowed them to hunt for food any time of the year even on privately owned land. Even though the three were relatively unknown they got assistance for legal counsel from the Assembly of First Nations, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, Treaty 7 Tribal Council, Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council and the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations. Opposing them were attorney-generals of Canada, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
All parties involved knew that this would be a judgment that would further define Native rights.
The court confirmed that Natives could indeed hunt all year round and more. One of the cases involved a Native hunting without a license. The court found that Alberta had not justified by either the need for safety or conservation its conditions imposed for holding a hunting license. They said this would infringe the Native’s treaty rights. The court did order a retrial giving Alberta the opportunity to justify having a hunting license for Natives. This could have far reaching effects across Canada for Native people if Alberta was successful.
