'The fight's not over,' Pimicikamak chief says after urging non-Indigenous moose hunters to return licences

A northern Manitoba First Nation is urging licensed moose hunters to stay off of its traditional territory this fall after failing to have the court intervene before the first leg of the season.

Pimicikamak Cree Nation took out advertisements in the Winnipeg Free Press, the Opasquia Times and the Thompson Citizen over the weekend, which say it does not "provide consent or permission" for the use of any moose hunting licences issued by the province across its traditional territory this year.

Pimicikamak alleges the licences violate its rights under provincial laws, Treaty 5 and the 1977 Northern Flood Agreement. It asks all licence holders to "take personal action in the spirit of reconciliation" and return them to Natural Resources Minister Jamie Moses.

"We're hoping that, by taking out the advertisements, that [licensed hunters] won't come into our territory, and we're hoping that they'll respect that," Chief David Monias told CBC News on Sunday.

"The fight's not over."

Pimicikamak's ad appeared about a week after Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Brian Bowman denied the First Nation an expedited court hearing for an injunction application, which seeks a court order to quash the moose hunting licences and Moses's decision to issue them.

The ad cites a section of the Northern Flood Agreement — signed between five First Nations and Manitoba Hydro, Manitoba and Canada — which says the province encourages the First Nations to "achieve the maximum degree of self sustenance in food supplies" and can prohibit people who are not residents of the communities from hunting, fishing or trapping in the area.

The traditional territory of Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake, spans nearly 15,000 square kilometres and portions of four of Manitoba's game hunting areas, including two of four GHAs that were subject to a 75 per cent reduction in moose draw licences — which grant non-Indigenous hunters permission to harvest.

In July, the province approved a total of 100 moose draw licences in the four GHAs — down from 400.

The hunters who received moose draw licences in those two GHAs that intersect with Pimicikamak — 9A and 10 — can harvest in the area from Sept. 16 to Oct. 13 and Dec. 2 to Dec. 15 this year, according to the annual hunting guide.

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation, which defends the interests of licensed hunters, has also taken the province to court over the licence reduction in the four GHAs. It filed an application on Aug. 12 for a judicial review of the decision, alleging it was not based on scientific data.

A two-day hearing has now been scheduled to consider both Pimicikamak and the wildlife federation's applications between Nov. 12 and 13, court records show.

In a Saturday newsletter, the wildlife federation said it disagrees with Pimicikamak's allegations in its ad, saying it creates confusion for hunters and is "counter to both reconciliation and the rule of law."

"Having put this issue before the courts, Pimicikamak should allow the judicial process to run its course rather than taking matters into its own hands," the newsletter says.