GN still pondering next move in bear hunting case

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

DENISE RIDEOUT

The Nunavut government hasn’t yet decided whether to appeal a recent Nunavut court ruling on a Coral Harbour man’s right to hunt a polar bear with dogs and a spear.

“The government of Nunavut is currently studying the decision with respect to the next step,” reads an official statement from Sustainable Development Minister Olayuk Akesuk on Jan. 10.

On Jan. 4, Justice Robert Kilpatrick ruled that it was unconstitutional for the Department of Sustainable Development to prevent Noah Kadluk from hunting a polar bear with a harpoon. Kadluk and a documentary crew from Toronto wanted to film the way Inuit used to hunt polar bears before the Europeans introduced guns to the North.

But the ruling doesn’t mean Kadluk’s dream of filming the authentic hunt is any closer to becoming a reality. The judge’s decision has been referred back to Sustainable Development, and the ball now lies in Olayuk Akesuk’s court.

In a carefully-worded news release, the GN said it wasn’t pleased with Kilpatrick’s ruling. “We are disappointed that the Minister of Sustainable Development’s decision was not upheld by the Court, however we respect the rule of the law,” the release stated.

Three-year battle

The case, which was heard in Iqaluit in November, has been a long-standing issue. It started in 1997 when Kadlak applied to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board for permission to hunt a bear with a spear.

He needed special permission because the Wildlife Act says bears may be hunted with certain weapons — but spears aren’t among them.

The NWMB supported the idea, but insisted that Kadlak be accompanied by another hunter carrying a firearm.

Still, at separate times both the Northwest Territories government and then the Nunavut government nixed the idea of the special hunt, claiming it threatened public safety.

That’s the decision Kadlak, along with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, were asking the courts to overturn.

Hunting rights reaffirmed

NTI president Paul Quassa said the birth-right organization took on the case because harvesting is an Inuit right that’s entrenched in the Nunavut land claim agreement.

NTI’s lawyers argued that the sustainable development minister should only be allowed to restrict Inuit hunting if it’s a safety risk to the community, not to an individual.

Justice Kilpatrick agreed, saying individual hunters put themselves at risk every time they hunt, whether they use a harpoon or a gun. To restrict Inuit from hunting merely because it’s risky is to put too big a limitation on Inuit hunting rights, Kilpatrick ruled.

The justice, in his eight-page explanation of his judgement, said the minister’s decision to prevent the special hunt infringed upon hunting rights laid out in the land claim. Kilpatrick said those very rights are also part of the Canadian Constitution.

“The Inuit right to hunt is understandably the central focus of the Nunavut land claims agreement. This is key to their social and cultural identity as people,” Kilpatrick wrote.

“The decision made by the Minister in this case restricts or limits a constitutionally protected right of harvest that I have found to be the central focus of the Nunavut land claims agreement,” he said. “I find that the individual’s right to determine the method of harvest has been directly impacted by the impugned decision.”

Quassa said NTI and Kadlak are pleased the land claims agreement was upheld in the courts.

“We were very pleased because the judge’s ruling fully recognized that these rights that we acquired through our land claims are entrenched in the Constitution and that no minister, whether at the territorial or federal level, can override these rights,” Quassa said.

“It was a very good day for NTI because of that recognition.”

Quassa said Kilpatrick’s ruling also emphasizes the importance of hunting to the Inuit way of life.

NTI is currently working with the Nunavut government and the NWMB to create a new wildlife act. Quassa said NTI wants to ensure that the hunting rights guaranteed in the land claims are included in the new act.

The Nunavut government said it believes hunting is a public-wide issue and could be dealt with better through consultations on the wildlife act, rather than in the courts.

It’s unclear whether Noah Kadlak wants to continue his plan of filming the traditional hunt. Nunatsiaq News was unable to reach Kadlak this week, because he was out seal-hunting.

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