Bloodvein’s contraband checkstop can remain

WINNIPEG — A Court of King’s Bench judge has ruled a blockade set up outside Bloodvein First Nation to keep drugs and alcohol out will be allowed to remain despite inconveniencing licensed hunters.

Justice Theodor Bock said the checkstop, installed by the First Nation to prevent contraband from getting into the community, is independent from a judicial review of a hunting buffer zone the province established in September.

“If the checkstop is used to prevent licensed moose hunters from accessing those portions (of land), those hunters will be inconvenienced … but not wholly prevented from moose hunting,” Bock said in his decision.

Bloodvein Chief Lisa Young called the decision precedent-setting for First Nations communities.

“It affirms the right for our First Nations to decide what is best for their land, their people and their future,” she said at a news conference following the judge’s decision.

In October, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation asked the Court of King’s Bench to grant a temporary injunction against the checkpoint after several hunters reported they were denied access to Bloodvein’s traditional land during the first few weeks of hunting season.

The federation argued the checkpoint is unlawful and impedes access to hunters, who have the right to be there under the province’s Wildlife Act.

The judge dismissed the application for the injunction because it didn’t follow proper procedure.

“Manitoba Wildlife Federation’s concerns about the checkstop would not be answered even if the buffer zone decision were not implemented or enforced,” Bock said.

The First Nation has the right to protest moose hunting on its land, but not by means of an “illegal blockade,” he said, adding whether the checkstop constitutes a blockade remains to be seen, since there has been no evidence any other hunting parties were unable to cross.

“It affirms the right for our First Nations to decide what is best for their land, their people and their future.”

Big-game hunting season in the area reopens on Monday. The First Nation is located about 280 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

During a court hearing on Nov. 13, Bloodvein’s lawyer said the blockade has been effective in curbing the flow of contraband into the community.

In his comments Thursday, Bock leaned on the side of Bloodvein, saying if the First Nation were banned from operating the checkstop, it will lose an “apparently effective tool in its efforts to deal with this pressing problem.”

Bloodvein councillor Ellen Young said the checkstop recently prevented a large amount of meth and cocaine from getting into the community.

“It’s been very helpful,” she said at the news conference

The roadside checkstop was set up at the community’s access road in May, but was moved to Rice River Road, a provincial road, in July after it was discovered contraband was flowing into the community via the river along the road.

Later, Bloodvein First Nation said on social media it would start to turn away “outside hunters” over concerns about declining moose populations.

At some point after that, the First Nation’s legal team sent a letter to the wildlife federation stating it would allow licensed hunters past the checkpoint. Federation lawyer Kevin Toyne said he and his client are confident the community will keep its word.

“I would be very surprised if a First Nation … turns around and breaks that promise almost immediately,” he said.

Toyne said the ruling, ultimately, is a win for the hunting community.

“The decision today dealing with technical areas of law may have gone the other way, but the Manitoba Wildlife Federation got the victory that it wanted when it first went to court,” he said.

Any hunters looking to access the area as of Monday will be escorted by Bloodvein bylaw officers to ensure they are not hunting in the buffer zone or an area of land identified as traditional ceremonial grounds by the First Nation, Lisa Young said.

The chief also cautioned hunters about the unpredictability of the landscape.

“When you have a non-Indigenous hunter who is not familiar with our traditional territories and who is not familiar with the terrain of our vast area, we worry … for their ability to go home to their families,” she said.

Following complaints about declining moose populations in the area, the province imposed 500-metre hunting buffer zones on either side of Rice River Road and Bloodvein River and Namay Falls in September.

Bock said if the wildlife federation wanted action on the blockade, it should have filed a statement of claim against the First Nation’s blockade instead of an application for judicial review of the buffer zones.

The judicial review is pending.

» Winnipeg Free Press