Judge adjourns case as wildlife federation seeks interim injunction on ‘highway blockade’

A dispute over a blockade to prevent hunting on Crown land reached a Winnipeg courtroom Thursday. Joseph Bernacki explains.

A Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba judge has adjourned a hearing brought forward by a conservation organization which alleges a First Nation is unlawfully blocking a highway to impede moose hunters from accessing crown land.

Justice Theodor Brock heard arguments on Thursday from the Manitoba Wildlife Federation (MWF)—a conservation group that represents the interests of Manitoba hunters—and Bloodvein First Nation over a highway impediment south of the First Nation.

Court heard that the First Nation— located roughly 200 kilometres north of Winnipeg—set up a checkstop in May to stop liquor and drugs from entering the nation. However, MWF lawyer Kevin Toyne said later in the summer, the checkpoint moved south of the community on Rice River Road and became a blockade to licensed moose hunters.

MWF brought forward a motion for an interim injunction in October to remove the impediment. The organization said licensed moose hunters are being turned away and have been unable to access hunting areas 17, 17A and 17B.

“Blockading a highway is unlawful. It’s tortious in the sense that at the very least, it is a public nuisance and it’s also contrary to multiple provisions of the Criminal Code and the Highway Traffic Act,” Toynes told the court.

Devon Mazur, Bloodvein First Nation’s lawyer, said the whole point of the checkpoint was to keep the community safe from drugs and alcohol. Bloodvein Chief Lisa Young echoed this sentiment while speaking with CTV News outside of court.

“Just wanting to ensure our members are safe,” Young said. “You have grandmothers, you have mothers, you have grandfathers and fathers, and they’re all saying that they want to stop the drugs and alcohol that are coming in.”

However, Young said when moose hunting resumes in those hunting areas starting in December, licensed moose hunters will not be turned away.

“Had that commitment been made in advance of today’s decision, I think we wouldn’t be here, so that’s out of the blue,” MWF senior policy advisor Chris Heald told CTV News outside of court.

“The chief was asked numerous times. Their council was asked numerous times, ‘Do you intend to let hunters through Dec. 1?’ They wouldn’t make that commitment, so that was a decision made in the courtroom today that kind of caught a lot of us off guard.”

Legal counsel for the province said it is “not taking a position” on the matter, adding that it’s the province’s view that Rice River Road should be accessible to all Manitobans.

“Our intention isn’t to deny anyone the ability to sustain themselves, but they too shouldn’t deny our ability to sustain ourselves of our opportunity to hunt in our traditional territory,” Young told CTV News.

A 2018 study by the province referenced by Toyne showed the moose population in the region has been stable over the last 25 years.

The hearing was adjourned to Nov. 27.