‘Extremely troubling’: Mi’kmaq protest Trudeau event after alleged fisher detentions

CITYnews halifax / By The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — Protesters tried to shout down a news conference today in Halifax with the prime minister over the alleged treatment of two Mi’kmaq elver fishers by federal fisheries officers.

The group of about 25 protesters beat a traditional drum through Justin Trudeau’s housing announcement and chanted “honour treaty rights.”

Protester Haley Ward told reporters that two Mi’kmaq men in their 20s were fishing last week near Eskasoni when they were apprehended by fishery officers who dropped them off at a gas station in a secluded area without their phones or shoes.

Ward says the pair had to walk seven hours in their socks to get home.

Trudeau said the “extremely troubling” allegations will be investigated, but he added it’s important that the laws against “illegal fishing” are enforced.

Ottawa closed the 2024 elver fishery on March 11 because of last season’s violence and intimidation on the water in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but the Mi’kmaq maintain they have a treaty right to fish.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press