Minister won't say whether night hunting ban is on the table

The Manitoba government refused to say Tuesday whether it will try to ban Indigenous hunting at night a move that would appease municipal leaders and anger Indigenous groups.

Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox emerged from a 40-minute meeting with reeves from several communities in western Manitoba to say the government plans to bring both sides to the table in the near future and try to work out an agreement.

"We want to address safe hunting here in the province in Manitoba, and also sustainability of our big-game population," Cox said, adding a date had not been set for the meeting.

Asked whether a ban on Indigenous night hunting is on the table, Cox did not answer directly.

"We want to have good, fulsome discussions and we want to include all parties, and I think that by working together and gaining consensus ... we will ensure that we have safe hunting conditions for Manitobans well into the future."

Non-Indigenous hunters are not allowed to hunt at night. Indigenous hunters are allowed supported by a Supreme Court of Canada ruling subject to safety restrictions.

The issue flared up last week when Premier Brian Pallister said the tension is leading to a "race war."

"Young Indigenous guys going out and shootin' a bunch of moose 'cause they can, 'cause they say it's their right, doesn't make any sense to me," he said in a speech in Virden. "This is a poor practice. A dumb practice ... It should stop.

"So what are we doing? We're organizing to bring indigenous people together and say the same thing I just said to ya, 'cause it's becoming a race war and I don't want that."

The comments were roundly criticized by Indigenous leaders.

"Allegations that Indigenous people are responsible for declining moose populations will be made, when in fact far more moose are killed by sport hunters," Senator Murray Sinclair wrote on social media Tuesday. He called Pallister's comments "inflammatory."

"The province does not have the authority to impede Indigenous rights to the land," Grand Chief Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs wrote on his Facebook page.

Scott Phillips, reeve of the rural municipality of Sifton, pointed to events in recent months in which livestock have been shot at night and found injured by farmers the next day. Last fall, an Indigenous hunter died in a night-hunting accident.

The reeves said non-Indigenous people are also hunting at night, and more enforcement is needed. They applauded the province for recent moves to add more conservation officers to the area.

But they also maintain their end goal is a province where night hunting is outlawed for all.

"We don't think that discharging a firearm at night is a safe practice," Phillips said.

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation has called on Manitoba to follow Saskatchewan's lead and ban night hunting for everyone in certain populated areas. Indigenous groups agreed after the province got the support of elders, the federation said.

• Night hunting becoming a 'race war': Pallister
• 'You are taking the food from my fridge': Indigenous hunter