A mi’kmaq band abandoned a legal affair alleging that Ottawa violated its rights of treaty in lobster fishing, after the hopes were raised from a historic agreement.
Last December, Lawyer of the First Nation Sipekne’katik told the judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, John Keith, that discussions with Ottawa to settle the case “passed to a conclusion”.
Keith gave the parties until June 16 to finish mediation, but said at that time that the case would continue before the courts.
However, a letter to the courts sent on June 6 by the lawyer for Sipekne’katik, Nathan Sutherland, abandoned the case without any other explanation.
None of the parties provided an update on the state of the negotiations for a new agreement.
Chef Michelle Glasgow, the chief of the Aboriginal community about 70 kilometers north of Halifax, did not respond to a comment request.
The members of the group had argued that their “moderate livelihood” lobster harvesting outside the regular season is authorized by a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999, while non -Aboriginal commercial fishermen argued that he threatens the actions and does not recognize how the courts maintained Ottawa’s right to regulate.
Get daily national news
Get the best news of the day, the titles of political, economic and current affairs, delivered in your reception box once a day.
The original trial was launched by the group in 2021, requesting a declaration that current federal regulations affect its fishing right.
The Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, a group that represents commercial fishermen, said in a press release on Monday that the case is a “major victory” for its members.
“It is a recognition by the chief’s first nation (Michelle) Glasgow and Sipekne’katik that the rights to illegal lobster fishing out of season … are not a protected right, it is a poaching, clear and simple,” said Colin Sproul, president of the group.
Meanwhile, the group said they would continue a separate legal action, submitted in August 2024, asking the Provincial Supreme Court to determine the rules and limits to apply to Sipekne’katik fishing under the Marshall decision.
The Marshall decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999 said that the Mi’Kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquody bands in eastern Canada could hunt, fish and come together to win a “moderate means of subsistence”, although the court followed a clarification saying that the law of the treaty was subject to federal regulations to ensure conservation.
In September 2020, the first nation Sipekne’katik issued five lobster licenses to its members, saying that they could trap and sell their catch outside the season regulated by the federal government.
In the months that followed, there were confrontations on water, rowdy demonstrations and riots with two pounds of lobster, one was shaved by a criminal fire.
According to a letter that the group’s lawyers sent to the Court last December, seven federal officials – including the regional director of the Department of Fisheries – attended weekly mediation talks in the legal case, with 10 representatives of the participating First Nation.
“The progress made to date and the future of our 25 years of dead end is immeasurable,” wrote Ronald Pink, the lawyer at the time, in the letter of 2024 to the judge.
The talks were also described by lawyers last December as being extended, former senator Dan Christmas and the federal retirement mediator Barney Dobbin guiding discussions.
This Canadian press report was published for the first time on June 9, 2025.
& Copy 2025 Global News, A Division of Corus Entertainment Inc.