Mime'j Seafoods Ltd v. Nova Scotia (Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal), 2007 NSCA 115

In Aboriginal Rights/Defences, Employment Law, Fish Cases on (Updated )

This case involved judicial review of a decision of the Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal that held that Mime’j Seafoods Ltd. was a employer for the purpose of assessments under the Workers’ Compensation Act. Mime’j Seafoods Ltd. was an aboriginal communal fishing management entity that was incorporated for the sole purpose of accommodating D.F.O.’s requirement that fishing licences be …

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Native Council of Nova Scotia v. Canada (Attorney General), 2008 FCA 113

In Aboriginal Rights/Defences, Fish Cases on (Updated )

This case involved an application for judicial review of a decision of the Minister of Fisheries to limit the permitted lobster catch under an Aboriginal Communal Food, Social and Ceremonial Licence issued to the Native Council of Nova Scotia ("NCNS"), a society that was created for the purpose of "assisting and giving a collective voice to Mi’kmaq and other Aboriginal …

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R v. Tommy, 2008 BCSC 1095

In Aboriginal Rights/Defences, Fish Cases on (Updated )

This case involved a number of charges of illegal fishing by members of the Cheam First Nation on the Fraser River. With respect to some of the charges, the court ruled the Crown failed to justify closing aboriginal fishing on the Fraser River at a time while the recreational fishery was still open. With respect to other charges the Crown …

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R v. Boudreau, 2009 NSPC 7

In Aboriginal Rights/Defences, Fish Cases, Miscellaneous, Offences on (Updated )

This case involved charges of illegal fishing for snow crab pursuant to Aboriginal Communal Fishing Regulations. When defence council discovered that the Band Council of the First Nation that that issued the Communal Fishing licences had discussed the case with several Government officials, including enforcement officers, he sought production of any reports and/or e-mails resulting from that meeting. After reviewing …

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R v. Rice, 2009 BCCA 569

In Aboriginal Rights/Defences, Fish Cases, Offences, Search and Seizure on (Updated )

This case involved charges of illegal hunting and possession of moose by three aboriginal hunters. Although not a fisheries case, it is relevant to fisheries prosecutions because (1) it involved an inspection under s. 95 of the B.C. Wildlife Act, which is similar to an inspection under s. 49 of the federal Fisheries Act; (2) it applied the test formulated …

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Roberts v. R, 2010 TCC 52

In Aboriginal Rights/Defences, Fish Cases, Taxation on (Updated )

This case involved a status member of the Kitsumkalum First Nation who lived on a reserve near Port Essington approximately 70 miles from Prince Rupert, British Columbia. After being assessed income tax on fishing income earned while fishing outside his reserve, but in his traditional fishing territory the FN Fisher appealed his assessment to the Tax Court of Canada. In …

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R v. Cardinal, 2010 ABQB 673

In Aboriginal Rights/Defences, Fish Cases on (Updated )

In this case, the trial court rejected a long list of defences based upon the inter-relationship between Treaty 6 rights and the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement ("NRTA"). With respect to the interjurisdictional immunity doctrine, the court concluded that since the Provincial hunting and fishing laws could not go the the "core of Indianness" because their Treaty right to sell fish …

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