Indigenous Legal Issues

The respondent, a treaty Indian, was convicted of hunting deer during a closed season and at night with a light on a public road.

The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions, holding that Indians have a right of access to public roads for hunting.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the Crown's appeal and restored the convictions, finding that a public road is occupied Crown land and the general right of access to roads does not include a right to hunt.

The appellant, a Treaty Indian, appealed convictions under the Manitoba Wildlife Act for hunting on privately owned, non-posted property.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, adopting the obiter statement from Myran, Meeches et al. v. The Queen that there is no right of access for such hunting, and disapproving of the Manitoba Court of Appeal's earlier decision in R. v. Prince.