R. v. Blais, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 236, 2003 SCC 44, 2003 SCC 44 (2003)

Extract

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R. v. Blais, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 236, 2003 SCC 44, 2003 SCC 44 (2003)

R. v. Blais, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 236, 2003 SCC 44

Ernest Lionel Joseph Blais Appellant v.

Her Majesty The Queen Respondent and

Attorney General of Canada,

Attorney General for Saskatchewan,

Attorney General of Alberta,

Métis National Council and Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Interveners

Indexed as: R. v. Blais

Neutral citation: 2003 SCC 44.

File No.: 28645.

2003: March 18; 2003: September 19.

Present: McLachlin C.J. and Gonthier, Iacobucci, Major, Bastarache, Binnie, Arbour, LeBel and Deschamps JJ.

on appeal from the court of appeal for manitoba

Constitutional law - Manitoba Natural Resources Transfer Agreement - Hunting rights - Métis - Métis convicted of hunting contrary to provincial statute - Natural Resources Transfer Agreement providing that provincial laws respecting game apply to Indians subject to their continuing right to hunt, trap and fish for food on unoccupied Crown lands - Whether Métis are "Indians" under hunting rights provision of Natural Resources Transfer Agreement - Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (Manitoba), para. 13.

The appellant, a Manitoba Métis, was convicted of hunting deer out of season. He had been hunting for food on unoccupied Crown land. His appeals to the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench and the Manitoba Court of Appeal were based solely on the defence that, as a Métis, he was immune from conviction under the Wildlife Act regulations in so far as they infringed on his right to hunt for food under para. 13 of the Manitoba Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (NRTA). This provision stipulates that the provincial laws respecting game apply to the Indians subject to the continuing right of the Indians to hunt, trap and fish for food on unoccupied Crown lands. Both appeals were unsuccessful. The issue in this appeal was whether the Métis are "Indians" under the hunting rights provision of the NRTA.

Held: The appeal should be dismissed.

The NRTA is a constitutional document which must be read generously within its contextual and historical confines and yet in such a way that its purpose is not ...

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