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CBC
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Sipekne'katik First Nation fishers say treaty elver fishery is 'a peaceful thing'
While the 2025 commercial elver season is underway in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Mi'kmaw fishers from Sipekne'katik First Nation in Nova Scotia are exercising their treaty rights through a protest fishery. In 2025, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) re-allocated 50 per cent of the harvesting quota for baby eels, or elvers, from commercial harvesters to First Nations in the two provinces but some First Nations communities are not participating under that regulatory framework. Sipekne'katik, Millbrook First Nation and Membertou First Nation are three Mi'kmaw communities in Nova Scotia operating under their own management plans instead of accepting DFO's plan. The protest fishery is a form of resistance, where Mi'kmaw fishers are harvesting under their own management plans rather than those imposed by the federal government, in an effort to affirm treaty rights. The elver fishery on the East Coast is booming due to its low-barrier entry and surging market prices in recent years. The "truckhouse clause" in the Peace and Friendship treaties of 1760 and 1761 affirmed the right of Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, and Peskotomuhkati to trade goods — including fish, furs and wildlife — at designated truckhouses. In 1999 the Supreme Court affirmed this right, and interpreted it in modern-day terms to say beneficiaries of these treaties have the right to sell these goods to earn a "moderate livelihood." Tabitha Morrison, a Mi'kmaw treaty fisher from Sipekne'katik First Nation, says when fishers from her community attempt to make a moderate livelihood fishing elvers, they are being harassed by DFO. "Threatening, intimidation, arriving in unmarked vehicles, not having business cards, not saying their badge number," said Morrison. "It's another form of institutionalizing our people and it is triggering as a nation." She said when DFO confiscates equipment it isn't being returned, which can make it difficult for fishers who see the fishery as a path to financial independence. "There are socio-economic gaps on reserve, so these are people on social assistance trying to do better and then they're being held back," she said. Harvesting in groups for safety There's been tensions between First Nations and non-Indigenous fishers over the perceived impact of a treaty rights-based fishery on commercial fishing, with notable conflicts arising in Esgenoopetitj in New Brunswick in 2000 and more recently in Sipekne'katik in 2020 over lobster. Amy Maloney, a Mi'kmaw treaty fisher who harvests alongside Morrison, said she sees stories in the media and hears other fishermen talk about her community and feels it is being painted as violent and disorderly. "It's a peaceful thing, it's not violent," said Maloney of the treaty fishery. "We want to do things without violence. We want to teach our kids that you don't have to be violent to exercise your rights. You can do this peacefully." She said the community is taking extra steps to stay safe this year by harvesting in groups and remaining vigilant. "We have to protect each other cause we don't have guns out there and stuff to protect us... and we shouldn't have that because fishing is a peaceful thing," she said. Morrison said fishers from her community head out beyond her community to harvest elvers because the Mi'kmaq traditionally moved based on the seasonal availability of food source. "We're gonna travel to fish, we're gonna travel to hunt," Morrison said. "That's what we have done for years." Morrison said her community's fishing plan is not unlimited, and their data is being tracked and managed by their community's fisheries management. They said they don't feel divided from other Mi'kmaw communities based on their choices to fish or not fish elvers, or to fish them under DFO's quotas. "The people that are here to treaty fish, let them treaty fish," Morrison added. Morrison said her community will continue to fight for their rights protected under the Constitution. "We're not all wrong and we're not all right. We're doing the best of what we know and I don't think the answer is pointing the finger and blaming," said Morrison. Fishery officers patrolling DFO regulates the commercial elver fishery with a maximum allowable catch of 9,960 kilograms. New regulations in March require anyone in possession of elvers — not only fishing them but storing, transporting, or exporting them, to be licensed. In a statement, DFO said "Fishery officers are patrolling rivers, inspecting holding facilities and export points, and working with our law enforcement partners, to enforce the Fisheries Act." "Fishery officers have a range of compliance measures that they can use depending on the particular situation. Any compliance measures taken will be based on numerous factors, including the severity of the offence, and the context in which it was committed." DFO added that if anyone believes "their interaction with a fishery officer was improper or if they believe that a fishery officer behaved in a less than professional manner, this should be reported to their local Conservation and Protection detachment."
CBC
09-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
2 First Nation councillors resign after woman targeted in 'vile' online chat goes public
Two elected councillors on a First Nation in Nova Scotia have resigned after screenshots surfaced of an online chat group they belonged to that included sexually derogatory references to women in the community and remarks relishing non-consensual sex. Screenshots of the Facebook chats were made public last weekend by Tia Googoo, a member of Millbrook First Nation, who said she was given access to them a few weeks ago by a friend who was a member of the group and apologized to her. The chat included derogatory comments about Googoo, other women and her mother, Robin Tomah, who in 2001 was attacked outside her home and severely burned. There were sexually explicit comments referencing her burns. Googoo said the messages were "vile." "I was extremely hurt," Googoo, 27, said in an interview. "My heart broke for my mother, my heart broke for all the other women they're degrading, they're objectifying, sexualizing." Millbrook First Nation confirmed in a statement Tuesday evening that it had accepted the resignations of Garrett Gloade and Pius Knockwood, the two councillors who the band said were members of the chat. The statement said RCMP were investigating. The community has been "shaken," the statement said, and the "activity in the group chat victimized many and has been devastating to read." In all, it appears roughly 20 men were part of the chat group. Googoo said many of them were her longtime friends, or friends of family members. The chat was active for about a year, Googoo said, but she only captured messages from September 2024 to this March. "I rethought the entirety of all our friendships of 20 years," Googoo said. "'What did I do, what did I do to them to deserve this? What did these women do to deserve this?' Ultimately, I couldn't find a reason why." Millbrook Chief Bob Gloade declined to comment to CBC News, but said in an earlier Facebook post the messages were "demeaning and disparaging towards women, men, elders and our 2SLGBTQIA+ population." "I want to assure you that this type of behaviour is not acceptable and it's not a reflection of our leadership or our community as a whole," he said in the post. "This situation is being taken very seriously and there will be formal and swift consequences for the misconduct of those affiliated with the Millbrook Band Council and Administration." Garrett Gloade, who was first elected in 2022 and won re-election this fall, said in a post on social media that he apologized "for my actions and contributions to the most recent events that have been circulating." It's not the first time Gloade has been in trouble while on band council. Two years ago, he was suspended without pay for three months after an internal investigation found he'd sexually harassed a band employee. Gloade subsequently challenged the suspension in court. The case was discontinued last year, but court records do not give a reason. In his post, which appears to have been taken down, he suggested he was the group creator. Screenshots taken by Googoo list Gloade as the creator of the group, which was titled J-Denn Pallbearers. "The intentions started as a place to keep my late brother's memory alive. But, have taken an awful turn and I take responsibility for my part in that," the post said. Neither Gloade nor Knockwood replied to requests for comment from CBC News. Googoo said the chat group included members sharing intimate images of her without her consent. Images of other women were shared as well, she said. In one message in the online chat, Knockwood said, "Pass out sex is the best there passed out," and in another referenced a woman who was "all pilled out." He also made an explicit remark about Tomah's burns. On another occasion, two group members talked about slapping or punching a woman to wake her up. Googoo said there's been an outpouring of support for her since she posted the screenshots to social media. Among those in her corner, she said, have been a number of Millbrook band councillors who she called "amazing." "I just hope that communities, you know, community members will speak up if they hear misconduct and if there's abuse of power," she said. "Use your voice. Don't let that slide because these people are supposed to represent us. They're supposed to represent our community, our families, our children."
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Yahoo
As the elver season opens, a First Nation is pushing back hard against DFO
In the coming weeks, Matthew Cope will anchor his cone-shaped fyke net along a river, and as the overnight hours creep by and the ocean tide comes in, he will catch tiny but highly lucrative juvenile eels. He will do so, however, without authorization from the Department of Fisheries, asserting that as a Mi'kmaw harvester, he has a treaty right to fish for the young eels, known as elvers, even outside of federal regulations. He expects to be stopped, and even arrested by fisheries officers, as he was last year during an elver seizure at a transport facility in Dartmouth, N.S. "I'm going to tell them what I always tell them," he said in an interview this week on Millbrook First Nation in central Nova Scotia. "I'm going to say I'm not hiding from you, I'm doing what I'm constitutionally allowed to do. I'm fishing in pursuit of a moderate livelihood, and I have every right to do so." The regulated season for elvers is set to open this weekend along Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rivers, with DFO imposing a number of regulations aimed at bringing control to what's been a chaotic fishery in recent years. Millbrook First Nation Chief Bob Gloade is shown on Friday in Millbrook, N.S. (CBC News) But earlier this month, Millbrook Chief Bob Gloade issued a strongly worded letter to DFO officials, outlining the band's refusal to abide by the government's elver management plan and warning of unspecified actions if fisheries officers "harass" its members. "We are not regulated by your colonial commercial licensing schemes, nor do we accept your proposed management plan," said the letter, which was addressed to Jennifer Ford, the elver review director at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. DFO has been concerned about widespread unauthorized harvesting in recent years driven by skyrocketing prices for elvers, which are shipped live to Asia and then raised for food in aquaculture facilities. Some of those fishing outside of DFO's licence regime have been Mi'kmaq asserting an Indigenous and treaty right to catch elvers and sell them. Others are non-Indigenous, simply cashing in on the boom. This season, DFO has plucked half the overall quota of 9,960 kilograms from commercial licence holders, many of them pioneers in the fishery, and handed it to 20 First Nations in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Elvers are young, translucent eels that leave the ocean and enter Maritime rivers in the spring. (Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press) But Gloade argues that when the quota is divvied up among so many groups, it doesn't amount to much for each fisherman. The band has tried for several years to assert its rights, he said, but has been frustrated by DFO's insistence that Millbrook must follow federal rules. "It's the big brother mentality, that philosophy that 'Our way is right and your way is wrong,'" Gloade said in an interview at the Millbrook band office. "And that's the attitude that we no longer want to accept. I said, 'We can govern ourselves, we can create our own plans.' We don't need DFO to tell us how to do things." Gloade said Millbrook's own elver plan is set to be approved by council next week. He emphasized that safety along the riversides, which have been the site of threats and even violence in previous years, is crucial for Millbrook harvesters. The band has hired two former DFO officers, he said, and there's a team in place to run the fishery. There will be logging requirements and accountability, he said. His letter said harvest numbers and river locations will be shared with DFO under the band's "good neighbour policy," but only at the end of the season. Millbrook First Nation has created its own elver management plan. (CBC News) In a statement Thursday, a DFO spokesperson said the department is committed to reconciliation, and "has a fundamental role to support the implementation of treaty rights." But the statement also said the courts have upheld the federal government's role in licensing the fishery, including the exercise of inherent and treaty rights. One of the major changes this year will be the requirement for anyone with an elver fishing or possession licence to log reports through a traceability app. "All aspects of the fishery, from the river to the point of export, are subject to compliance verification by fishery officers, who conduct inspections across all fisheries regulated by the department, including commercial, communal commercial and rights-based fisheries in the pursuit of a moderate livelihood," the statement said. "Fishing activity occurring without a required licence or not in compliance with conditions of licence is subject to enforcement action." A camera along a Nova Scotia river shows someone fishing for elvers on March 14, 2025, more than a week before the season was scheduled to open. (Atlantic Elver Fishery Ltd.) Gloade said Millbrook will pay for lawyers for members fishing under the band's plan who are charged by DFO under the Fisheries Act. In his letter, he said fisheries officers will only be allowed on Millbrook land with the permission of the chief and council, and are otherwise barred from inspecting elver holding facilities. "Should any of your fisheries officers continue to harass or infringe our members' rights, you and your department will be at risk of actions against you," the letter said. For commercial licence holders, DFO's talk of enforcement needs to be backed up by more arrests and stiffer fines. Riverside cameras set up this month have already spotted people fishing before the season opened. "For the most part, I think most First Nations communities see the benefit of working with DFO in this fishery," said Stanley King, with Atlantic Elver Fishery Ltd., a commercial licence holder whose quota was cut without compensation. "I think we have a few that don't want to play by the rules, which means that there's not going to be any accountability, it's going to hurt traceability, it's going to undermine market value of the fish." MORE TOP STORIES
CBC
17-02-2025
- General
- CBC
Mi'kmaw activist being honoured by Nova Scotia on Heritage Day
Social Sharing Nova Scotia is honouring Nora Bernard today on Heritage Day. Bernard was a Mi'kmaw activist and a member of Millbrook First Nation. She was also a survivor of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School. She helped lead a class-action lawsuit against the Canadian government that sought compensation for other residential school survivors. Justine Maloney, Bernard's niece, said her aunt was beloved throughout Mi'kma'ki as a community member and for her advocacy. "It's nice for her to be known outside of the community now," Maloney said during an interview with Information Morning in Halifax. Bernard was killed in 2007. Maloney said her mom, aunt and their other siblings didn't say much about residential schools when she was growing up. But she said they opened up as she got older. "[Bernard] told me of her still advocating for her siblings," Maloney said. "Advocating for other younger people in the residential school alongside her, she always had that role." In 2005, the federal government settled the lawsuit for upwards of $5 billion. The last residential school in Canada had closed in 1996. "She would have been … pleased to see everyone who've lived in poverty their whole lives … to get at least something for the abuse that they endured," Maloney said. Exhibit at Halifax gallery explores the meaning and evolution of Mi'kmaw regalia Nora Bernard to be honoured at 4th National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 5 months agoNewsPause Maloney got to know her aunt on a different level because of the amount of time they spent together. Bernard and Maloney also worked together for an Indigenous organization in Truro and in other administrative roles. They formed a partnership around the office, Maloney said. She remembers her aunt's humour. She also remembers Bernard as being motherly and having protective instincts. The loyalty she had for her family was strong, Maloney said. She loved being Mi'kmaq, she loved her culture, and she loved her language. "A lot of people didn't know that she was [a] very fluent Mi'kmaw speaker," said Maloney. To honour her memory on Heritage Day, Maloney said her family will spend time together. She said that's what her aunt loved the most. Maloney said the best way others can honour her legacy is to spend time with their families. "Share some tea … share a recipe with them," she said. "Share something that's going to involve everybody." Bernard would have been happy and honoured to have her work celebrated in this way, said Maloney. But she said her aunt was so humble it wouldn't have changed her in any other way.
