The country’s new Minister of Fisheries and Oceans says work is underway toward addressing an issue within the fishery that’s remained undefined for decades.
South Shore-St. Margaret’s MP Bernadette Jordan says she’s aware that tensions have been simmering over the definition of a ‘moderate livelihood’ with respect to the rights of First Nations fishers.
Jordan says DFO has been working closely with First Nations groups toward defining and implementing these rights, but couldn’t confirm what the definition may look like in Nova Scotia.
“There are some agreements now in place in New Brunswick and Quebec that will define how those First Nations groups move forward,” she explained. “We are still working with groups in Nova Scotia as well as PEI and other places in New Brunswick to see if we can get these agreements in place so that these tensions are reduced.”
The Supreme Court affirmed in September 1999 that First Nations people on the East Coast had a right to hunt, gather and fish to earn “a moderate livelihood,” but didn’t define what the phrase meant.
