First Nations call government’s moose-hunt claims ‘false’

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and two northern First Nations that have been urging the province to curtail licensed moose hunting on their traditional lands have accused the government of making a false claim in a recent court filing.

Misipawistik Cree Nation filed a lawsuit against the provincial government in the Court of King’s Bench in September, arguing allowing licensed moose hunting on its traditional lands northwest of Lake Winnipeg infringes on the community’s treaty rights to hunt moose for food amid dwindling populations of the big game animal.

The provincial government, in a statement of defence filed in court last month, denied any wrongdoing and asked the court to toss out the lawsuit.

The province claims in its court papers it gave information to the community about the guidelines, methodology and calculations it used to support its decision to issue hunting licences in 2025 in areas near Misipawistik.

MKO said Monday that “claim is false.”

Officials from MKO, Misipawistik and Pimicikamak Cree Nation, which is also embroiled in a fight with the province over moose hunting on its traditional lands, have repeatedly and formally requested that information from provincial officials since May to no avail, MKO said in a news release on Monday.

“For Manitoba to suggest it has already provided First Nations with the science behind its moose‑licensing decisions is simply not true. Our nations have been waiting months for basic information that should have been shared at the outset,” MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said in a statement.

”You cannot claim shared stewardship while withholding the very data needed to protect the moose our people depend on for food, culture, and the exercise of our constitutionally protected right of top priority.”

MKO argues the province not disclosing the information it used to come to its decisions undermines the government’s legal obligations and the commitments it has made publicly to shared stewardship of resources and reconciliation.

The organization called on the province to immediately disclose its full methodology and calculations for moose-hunting licensing decisions and to engage with First Nations in good faith.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca