B.C. couple to stand trial maintain poaching charges violate aboriginal rights
KAMLOOPS – A First Nations couple who claim they are being "persecuted for being Indian” must stand trial for alleged poaching offences in B.C., a provincial court judge has ruled.
Jay Coutts and Farah Palmer each face one count of trafficking in wildlife, and Coutts is charged with an additional count of hunting during prohibited hours.
Coutts and Palmer, who allegedly sold deer meat to undercover conservation officers in Cache Creek, are set to go to trial on Sept. 24.
The pair is fighting the charges, saying they violate their aboriginal rights.
In a previous hearing, Coutts said Canada's laws are made "for white people, not native people."
Coutts says aboriginal people have the right to hunt for food and sustenance and that he should be allowed to make his living selling deer meat.
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6 responses
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Julia George …we are no longer considered “visitors”, sorry.I think 4 generations allows us to be considered permanent residents.Or 3, or even 2.Enough of this already.I am very curious (and NOT being argumentative or hateful…just curious) exactly how you would like “decolonization” to appear, and how it would happen, and what it would look like when it did happen.Nobody seems willing or able to answer this question, but since I honestly don’t understand, I wonder if you’d mind taking a moment to explain?Thanks.
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Colonial rules again, imposed on people..poverty again, is allowed to harm more people with manmade rules.. something wrong with the entire picture..
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That would be applied to the man made act that colonizers made up big time..eg. Land appropriation, residential schools, etc..
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Hunting for food.Not poaching, not selling the meat.Not taking advantage of rights that you have that other hunters do not.I think these two probably embarrass a lot of aboriginal people.
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I think if they want tohunt and live as their forefathers did the should first of all learn how, same rules should apply to ALL Canadians alike!!!!
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