NB

'Tired of living in poverty,' Wolastoq want more fisheries

A top Wolastoqey negotiator says the seafood industry should form partnerships with Indigenous communities in western New Brunswick because it’s only a matter of time before his people control their own fisheries on the Bay of Fundy.

Ken Paul told an audience of hundreds at the Delta Hotel in Saint John last week at the Responsible Seafood Summit that although the Wolastoqey communities that dot the province’s biggest river already have a foothold in the bay, with several boats catching lobster, scallop and brown fish, they want far more.

“We don’t have access to some areas on the Bay of Fundy, we don’t have access to facilities, we don’t have wharves up here. But we have rights,” said the lead fisheries negotiator and research co-ordinator for the Wolastoqey Nation who lives in Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation).

“We actually want to govern the fisheries in these areas. We can’t do that because we don’t have capacities right now. We lead the poverty levels in the province. We have the highest unemployment levels in the province. We are in our own traditional territories, but, yes, we’re at the bottom of all these economic and social indicators. We can’t just flip a switch and say, OK, let’s go, we’re going to govern now.

“You have to build up these things.”

The Wolastoqey communities have more than a dozen licences to fish in the bay issued by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans but are far outnumbered by non-Indigenous fishers, who hold more than 100 licences.

Such arrangements following landmark Supreme Court decisions have led to spasms of violence on Canada’s East Coast over the last 24 years, first in Esgenoôpetitj (Burnt Church First Nation) at the turn of the century and more recently in Nova Scotia, as fishers from seaside communities and Indigenous people clashed over who had the right to fish.

“People use fear as a motivator,” Paul warned the crowd. “Fear leads to ignorance and leads to hate and racism, which is why we had a bunch of people attacking Mi’kmaq three years ago, just on the other side of the Bay of Fundy, over lobster.”

Pitching partnerships, Paul said the industry would benefit from Indigenous knowledge systems and their respect for plant and sea life.

“If you want to lobby the federal minister to diminish Indigenous rights, good luck. The rights aren’t going away. But for those in your industry who want to partner with First Nations, you’re probably going to have more predictability and sustainability with your business and more potential for growth.”

The negotiator also referenced the Wolastoqey Nation’s title claim, which encompasses the entire western half of the province and a large chunk of the Bay of Fundy. The Higgs Progressive Conservative government is fighting the claim in court, arguing the Indigenous leaders are after people’s private property.

“We’re the first First Nations group in Canada to put a title claim on seawater,” Paul said. “This is going to take at least 10 years. We’re getting a lot of hostile pushback from the Province of New Brunswick on this.”

After Paul's talk, Margaret Johnson, the provincial fisheries minister, told Brunswick News she supported the idea of the seafood industry forming partnerships with Indigenous communities.

She steered clear of the title claim, arguing much could be accomplished outside the court process.

“We have to look at partnerships,” she said in the hotel lobby. “We have to make sure it isn’t divisive and confrontational right from the get-go. Everybody has to sit at the table. People always use the word ‘consultation,’ but I prefer ‘collaboration,’ sitting down and right at the get-go saying, how can we work together?”

The Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association represents about 200 fishers in the middle of the bay, half of them boat captains who own their own vessels, the rest deckhands.

Executive director Melanie Sonnenberg said her organization would like to listen in on talks between Ottawa and the Wolastoqey Nation, so that it isn’t caught by any surprises that could lead to misunderstandings.

“It’s too piecemeal,” she said. “Government tells us one thing, and we do have relationships with our Indigenous colleagues, but we hear something different from them. We are by ourselves talking it over, and you know how that goes.

“The messaging would be better if we could all sit down.”

After his talk, Paul told Brunswick News his nation would prefer to stay out of court because it would just muddle the process and cost lots of money to pay lawyers. But he said Indigenous leaders have made it clear they won’t back down from their title claim.

“I’d love to see more openness and willingness to share, and I realize there are a lot of economic investments. People have bought boats, they have cars, they have homes and families. But so do we, right? And we’re tired of living in poverty in our own territories.”

John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Gleaner