The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG–Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has told a Winnipeg newspaper that he used imprecise and possibly inflammatory language earlier this month when he told rural municipal politicians that tension surrounding night hunting is leading to a “race war.”
Pallister was meeting with officials in Virden on Jan. 16 when he mentioned his concern about what he called indigenous people going out and shooting moose.
His comments were recorded by a radio reporter and were widely condemned by indigenous leaders and the Opposition.
In a telephone interview with the Winnipeg Free Press last night, Pallister said he wishes he had used different language to broach the subject.
Pallister said he is not a racist and has advocated for indigenous rights in the past.
He added he supports the right of indigenous people to hunt at night in areas where they have a legal right to harvest wildlife.
“Quite frankly, it was an unfortunate choice [of words],” the newspaper quoted Pallister as saying.
“There are court-established, well-established indigenous hunting rights,” Pallister said.
“Jurisprudence is very clear on this: indigenous people have the right to hunt on their land,” he noted. “They have the right to hunt on Crown land.
“They have the right to night hunt on private land with the permission of landowners.”
Pallister said his real concern is hunters firing weapons from the back of trucks using high-powered lights in areas where hunting is not permitted, including on or near highways and farm properties.
“People are getting fearful and concerned,” he remarked. “I’m hearing this from indigenous hunters and elders, too.
“Out in the country, where the night-shooting activity is happening, it’s scaring people,” Pallister stressed.
“It’s a growing problem.”
Pallister said during his recent tour of western Manitoba, he heard many people raise the issue of night hunting, and related to him anecdotes about bullets striking farm buildings and inadvertently killing farm animals.
The premier noted at least one man died in the last year in connection with night hunting.
He said he also heard some non-indigenous people talk about a possible “vigilante” response, which only re-enforced the importance of bringing the issue up for discussion when he met with municipal councillors in Virden.
