Rural councillors urge province to ban night hunting

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This article was published 23/01/2017 (2796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s sustainable development minister refused to say Tuesday whether there is any possibility she might ban night hunting in Manitoba, despite calls to end the dangerous practice.

Catherine Cox met for about 45 minutes with a delegation of rural councillors who demanded she ban night hunting. She later said she is hoping to meet with all concerned parties and find ways to make hunting safe for everyone.

“We want to include all parties,” she told reporters. “Everyone is concerned about safety, and ensuring the sustainability of our big-game population. We want to work together and do consensus-building — I can’t say what the outcome will be.”

RM of Sifton Coun. Scott Phillips emerged from Tuesday’s meeting to say progress had been made towards a total ban. Sifton is located in the southwest corner of the province.

“They haven’t said no. I don’t know why they would — it’s in everyone’s best interests,” Phillips said. “Me, personally, I think we’re on second base, I think we’ll get to home.”

However, Phillips said Cox is keeping the government’s promise made in November to hire more conservation officers.

Firing a gun at night is not safe, said Phillips, who insisted that the proposed ban has nothing to do with indigenous hunting rights — some leaders have argued it’s a protected right — and everything to do with everyone’s safety.

“We want everybody to feel safe at night,” he said.

RM of Pipestone Reeve Archie McPherson said there is no need for anyone to hunt at night: “There’s 365 days a year they can hunt.”

Cox said no one has made a case to her that indigenous hunters need to hunt at night in order to feed their families.

“Everyone agrees that night hunting is not safe,” the minister said. “It’s a complex and very emotional issue. We’ve relocated conservation officers into areas where we know there have been problems.”

Cox said she is now contacting leaders of indigenous organizations to meet with her and with municipal officials.

MKO Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, and Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand did not respond to interview requests Tuesday.

While Cox is concerned about the sustainability of the moose population, she did not have figures available to show how many moose and other large game have been lost to night hunting.

New Democrat Wab Kinew said Tuesday night hunting is an indigenous right and an ancient practice.

“The province can’t act unilaterally. They have to be sure they’re reaching out to indigenous rights holders,” he said.

It is not just indigenous people hunting at night, said Kinew, who added that as an indigenous hunter he doesn’t hunt past dusk.

Liberal interim leader Judy Klassen, a member of St. Theresa Point First Nation, said she was unsure why hunters need to hunt at night: “They haven’t said what the specific advantages are, just that it’s a protected right.”

Klassen said in an interview that hunters in northern communities share the meat among the community, and they hunt in a safe manner, knowing where people and buildings are. Generally, Klassen said, wild game avoids settled areas.

 

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca