Moose. (Susan McNeil)

By Susan McNeil

No hunting in game preserves

First Nations chief guilty of illegally shooting moose in game preserve

Oct 27, 2023 | 5:00 PM

When David Sandfly, Chief of the Big Island Lake Cree Nation, shot and killed a bull moose in the Pierceland area north of Meadow Lake, he was breaking the law.

Provincial Court Judge Michael Segu ruled that Sandfly needed a license that he didn’t have to hunt in the East/West Road Corridor Game Preserve.

“Chief Sandfly had no right of access to the occupied Crown land,” wrote Segu in a decision dated Oct. 20.

“Given the finding that there was no right of access, the accused has not established a prima facie infringement of a Treaty right.”

Because the area exists specifically for the preservation of game, treaty rights to access the land do not apply.

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Sandfly shot the moose in February 2020 near the East/West Road, around kilometre 77 north of the Meadow Lake Provincial Park, an area that is clearly designated as a Road Corridor Game Preserve (RCGP).

According to evidence heard in his trial, no licenses are issued for the preserve. Indigenous people have the right to hunt and fish on unoccupied land as set out by the treaties, in this case, Treaty 6 and do not need a license to hunt.

Sandfly’s defence team argued that the Wildlife Act and associated regulations are contrary to the 1982 Constitution Act, that the ban on hunting in the RCGP is beyond the authority of the province and that the Wildlife Act unconstitutionally limited his treaty right to hunt.

The Crown took the position that based on the body of laws relating to the issue, there is no treaty right to hunt in a game preserve, a position Segu agreed with.

Treaty hunting is allowed within the Meadow Lake Provincial Park but is not allowed on the preserve.

Finding moose is becoming more difficult, according to the evidence, and numbers have been declining since the mid-2000s, due in part to increased logging and increased construction of new roads.

Studies show that roads and cutlines help predators, such as hunters or other wildlife, increase their access to prey, like moose.

After the preserve was created, moose numbers recovered significantly where roads were closed and where game preserves were created.

Testifying in his own defence, Sandfly said he was looking for moose for a feast at the request of an elder, who was not named.

He saw four moose on one side of the road, stopped his vehicle, loaded his gun then left the truck.

A cow moose with two calves ran but Sandfly shot and killed the bull.

—

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com