Moncton Forum

Erasing Ganong Line may complicate issue for off-reserve natives

CBC News

The province of New Brunswick is looking at erasing the Ganong Line, which has separated hunting ground between the Mi'Kmaq and Maliseet First Nations for 10 years, but not all natives necessarily stand to benefit.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ed Doherty says the idea behind demolishing the line is to return responsibility to First Nations leaders.

"It will allow free movement back and forth by both the Mi'Kmaq and Maliseet communities," Doherty said. "They'll be able to hunt and fish under the jurisdiction of their own First Nations, as opposed to the jurisdiction of an artificial line."

Betty-Ann Lavallée, chief of the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples council, representing native people who live off-reserve, says members of both First Nations communities strongly disagree with the line's existence.

"It was a control that they were trying to put in place, in the minds of most aboriginal peoples, to harass and prevent us from exercising our aboriginal treaty rights," Lavallée said Wednesday.

Lavallée says the policy has done nothing but create confusion, but the removal could create even more confusion for the people she represents.

"I have concern that [Doherty]'s saying you're going to have to seek permission from chiefs and councils if you're in another person's territory," Lavallée said. "Well, how can you do that? I mean chiefs and councils have only got authority over the reserve land."
 
The line remains in place until its removal can be negotiated, and it is so far unclear how long that will take.

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