Members of the Harvesting Council. (submitted photo/Dave Rondeau)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Métis Rights

Group looking to get Métis harvesting rights recognized by province around P.A. and Batoche

Feb 14, 2023 | 4:53 PM

A group of Métis people from around Prince Albert and Batoche areas are calling on the provincial government to recognize their harvesting rights in the area.

Currently, Métis people can receive fines for hunting unless they do so in the northern part of the province. According to the Saskatchewan Treaty and Aboriginal Rights for Hunting and Fishing Guide, the province doesn’t recognize their right to hunt, fish and trap for food.

Everything above the green line and in the checked line area are areas where harvesting rights are recognized by the province. (Saskatchewan Treaty and Aboriginal Rights for Hunting and Fishing Guide)

In hopes of changing this, several people have formed a harvesting council with Corey Linfitt being elected as its first president.

“We want to meet with the government and set up a sustainable way to harvest,” he said.

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Linfitt told paNOW he has no idea why the province only recognizes the rights of his people in half of the province. For him, it goes against a Supreme Court of Canada decision and simply punishes people for living in the central and southern parts of Saskatchewan.

He also noted their right to hunt is just as much a need as they harvest for food. Right now, many Métis people in the area, especially Elders, are struggling to afford food with the prices continuing to rise.

“We have a lot of Elders who can’t afford (everything), they’re deciding to pay for medications over eating. So, with harvesting we can help out with those costs,” he said.

Linfitt adds they believe the province the should follow what the Manitoba government has done to recognize Métis peoples’ rights. He explained they would still need to register, can’t hunt all-year around, while making sure a tagging system was in place.

“We don’t want it to be a free for all… we want regulations behind it,” he said.

Right now, the main focus is getting their rights recognized in their area. Afterward, they hope the province will start adding other regions until everyone is covered.

“Once we get it up and operating, we’re hoping other regions will come and look at our model and say ‘this is working for them, we should be able to adopt this as well.’”

paNOW has reached out to Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment but did not received a response before publication.

The harvesting council claims they’ve also reached out to the Métis Nation – Saskatchewan for support but haven’t heard back. However, the MN-S said they continue to engage with the province to expand recognition of harvesting rights across Saskatchewan.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow