N.S. Indigenous leader calls on feds to review Mi’kmaq fishers’ arrest

CITYnews halifax / By The Canadian Press

An Indigenous leader is calling on the federal government to begin an external review into why fisheries officers allegedly arrested two Mi’kmaq fishers in March 2024 and left them at a Nova Scotia gas station without shoes or phones.

Chief Gerald Toney of the Annapolis Valley First Nation told a news conference in Ottawa today there has been no movement on the file since then-fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier called for the review on July 8.

Toney says the way the two men were treated was “inhumane,” and he urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to take action within his first 100 days in office.

Lebouthillier said after the arrests that the review would examine Fisheries Department policies, adding that a panel with Indigenous leadership would be announced within a month.

A veteran fisheries officer was suspended in December without pay for 10 days for his role in arresting the two men on a freezing cold night near Shelburne in southwestern Nova Scotia.

Related:

• ‘Starlight tour’: Mi’kmaq fisher allegedly dumped without boots or phone feared death
• As elver fishery season set to launch, N.S. First Nation rejects federal rules
• Deal between Ottawa and N.S. First Nation over contested fishery nearly done: lawyer

Toney’s comments were made via video link during a news conference near Parliament Hill that saw a number of Indigenous leaders press the governing Liberals to address First Nations priorities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2025.