VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - An appeals court on Thursday upheld the government's right to give native Indian fishermen added access to commercial salmon on the Pacific coast.
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The British Columbia Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by non-aboriginal fishermen who had argued that a "race-based fishery" instituted by the federal government in 1992 unfairly discriminated against them.
The justices rejected the fishermen's claim that their constitutional rights were violated by the rules enacted in response to a Supreme Court of Canada decision that recognized Indians rights to resources in their historic territories.
One of the justices said that the statistics on salmon catches did not support the non-aboriginal fishermen's "perception of disadvantage."
The B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition launched the case in 1998 by fishing on the Fraser River at a time when only members of two Indian nations were supposed to be on the water, and an official told reporters the group may do it again this summer.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608...dqZovDvbn1vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
Good finally. Some justice is being done, when native people want a slice of the pie in their traditional areas and non-natives begin to complain no wonder they are so poor. But this is good for the natives and I hope to see more ruling like that in the future.
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The British Columbia Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by non-aboriginal fishermen who had argued that a "race-based fishery" instituted by the federal government in 1992 unfairly discriminated against them.
The justices rejected the fishermen's claim that their constitutional rights were violated by the rules enacted in response to a Supreme Court of Canada decision that recognized Indians rights to resources in their historic territories.
One of the justices said that the statistics on salmon catches did not support the non-aboriginal fishermen's "perception of disadvantage."
The B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition launched the case in 1998 by fishing on the Fraser River at a time when only members of two Indian nations were supposed to be on the water, and an official told reporters the group may do it again this summer.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608...dqZovDvbn1vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
Good finally. Some justice is being done, when native people want a slice of the pie in their traditional areas and non-natives begin to complain no wonder they are so poor. But this is good for the natives and I hope to see more ruling like that in the future.