Way cleared for aboriginals to build hunt cabins on Crown land without permits
Posted Mar 2, 2011 04:10:25 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – A provincial appeal in a hunting cabin case has been abandoned, clearing the way for First Nations members to build hunt cabins on Crown land without permits.
Aroland First Nation members were at the centre of the case which saw the Ministry of Natural Resources attempt to stop two people from building a hunt cabin on Ogoki Lake’s Comb Island in 2003.
The department issued a stop-work order, saying Elsie and Howard Meshake needed a work permit to build at the site, which is not part of Aroland itself, but is part of the band’s traditional territory.
Initially, a justice of the peace ruled that the Meshakes were protected by their constitutional rights under Treaty 9.
The province appealed to the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Meshakes won again.
The provincial appeal was to be heard Tuesday in Toronto, but the province dropped the fight.
