The Métis Nation of Alberta says it will take a high-profile hunting rights case in the province to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Yesterday, a court of appeal upheld the conviction of a Métis hunter who shot a mule deer in 2007.
The hunter was participating in a community hunt, held after the Alberta government unilaterally imposed its own harvesting policy on the Métis.
The government is arguing that the deer was shot in an area that didn’t have a site-specific settlement in the area prior to the arrival of the RCMP.
The Métis disagree saying they have food harvesting rights that are protected under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution.
The MNA says it doesn’t believe the ruling can be reconciled with how the Supreme Court’s Powley decision has been applied in other jurisdictions such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The organization says the Supreme Court needs to address the different way in which the Alberta courts have essentially used the Powley test against the Métis on the Prairies.