Lake Audy occupation ends after three years

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This article was published 14/12/2022 (1144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who has been living in the Lake Audy area in Riding Mountain National Park since 2019 has been seemingly arrested by park wardens and had his belongings removed.

As reported by the Sun in August 2020, Wesley Bone took up residence in a kitchen structure within the park in December of 2019, and erected a teepee, signage and steel cattle gates at the Lake Audy entrance, located 123 kilometres north of Brandon.

Residents in the area have been asking Parks Canada to remove him since he began living in the area. Bone maintained that his goal was to use the area to instruct young Indigenous people about their true history and identity. He says that he does not recognize modern treaties or the Indian Act.

On Dec. 9 of this year, the Sun received an anonymous tip stating that Wesley Bone had been removed from the area. We also received a link to two videos showing Bone’s arrest.

The larger video, uploaded on Bone’s Twitter page on Nov. 27 with claims that he had been “arrested by belligerents” and “never ceded,” shows Bone being arrested by Parks Canada wardens at the Co-op Cardlock gas station in Strathclair, located 92 kilometres northwest of Brandon. In the video, someone holding a phone camera is being held back by park wardens while an individual is put into a Parks Canada vehicle. Another three-second video shows Bone looking at the camera before being taken away in handcuffs.

It remains unclear why Bone was arrested outside of the national park.

In a statement emailed to the Sun on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for Parks Canada said that in “late November” three tent-cabin hybrid structures called oTENTiks had been removed from the Lake Audy campground by park staff, as they were “no longer needed” in that location.

“During the removal of these tents, items belonging to private citizens were discovered inside. The items were removed from the area, and several personal items were respectfully packaged. The owner of these items has been contacted and is aware of how to retrieve them. No people were removed from the area during this operation,” the statement read.

The statement went on to say that Parks Canada has taken a “measured approach” to Bone’s occupation of Lake Audy, with respect for the collective rights of Indigenous people to access their traditional territory.

“Parks Canada is continuing to work with the local First Nations to ensure all rights holders continue to have access to the Lake Audy area.”

Despite several attempts by the Sun over the last several days to reach Parks Canada for confirmation, the statement issued Wednesday made no mention of Bone’s arrest, and instead stated that the department “cannot comment further on a matter that is before the courts.”

The Sun asked for clarification of Bone’s arrest but did not hear back from Parks Canada by press time. The Sun has also attempted to contact Bone via his social media accounts but he did not respond.

Back in August 2020, Chief Norman Bone of Keeseekoowenin First Nation, which belongs to the Coalition of First Nations with Interest in Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP), told the Sun that Wesley Bone, his cousin, did not have a mandate to “take over a kitchen hut” at the park and did not have the support of the First Nation.

The Sun contacted the Wasagaming RCMP detachment, who in turn suggested contacting the Shoal Lake detachment. Neither were able to comment on Bone’s removal, and the RCMP’s media relations office did not immediately reply to the Sun’s request for comment. The Sun also reached out to Keeseekoowenin First Nation but did not receive a reply by press time.

Previously, Jonathan Wilkinson, the current federal minister of natural resources and the former minister responsible for Parks Canada, said Parks Canada staff wanted to find a “respectful resolution” to Bone’s “unauthorized occupation.”

The office of Steven Guilbeault, the current Parks Canada minister, did not reply to the Sun’s request for comment.

Bone’s occupation of Lake Audy has been a thorn in the side of visitors and residents of RMNP, said Onanole resident Douglas Affleck. He told the Sun this week that Parks Canada has let the situation go on for “way too long,” and that Bone had damaged some of the property he was living in.

“I don’t care who you are and what you think you deserve. That’s protected land and it’s for everyone to enjoy,” Affleck said. “I say good job on … the park wardens and park employees for finally taking a stand and cleaning up his mess. He was given warning and was nowhere to be seen when the dust settled.”

The Sun is still waiting for Parks Canada to confirm Bone’s arrest.

>> mleybourne@brandonsun.com

>> Twitter: @miraleybourne