It’s been more than a year since the GNWT went into the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation’s (LKDFN) cultural camp at Timber Bay and the MLA for the community is wondering what the territorial government has done to mend fences with the community.
Richard Edjericon, MLA for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, put the question to Shane Thompson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on Sept. 29 in the legislative assembly, saying that the minister needed to apologize for what happened.
“Will the minister now recognize the wrong that was done under his watch and apologize to the community of Lutsel K’e and start the reconciliation process as mandated by this government?,” he said.
Thompson replied that the incident in question is still being investigated, but he did indicate that he met with LKDFN Chief James Marlowe last fall in the hopes of rebuilding relations.
“I’ve written to him to offer to work on reconciliation efforts once an investigation is completed,” he said.
It all began back on Sept. 13, 2022, when LKDFN alleged that wildlife officers conducted what it called a “forceful invasion” of its camp inside the Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve.
LKDFN claimed that officers arrived by helicopter and that community members were told that attending officers were investigating illegal hunting within the Bathurst Caribou Management Zone, which is located 150 km north of the camp.
LKDFN also stated that officers threatened to press charges of obstruction and to bring in additional officers if people refused to comply with their demands. The search lasted four hours, according to LKDFN, with samples of country food seized.
Iris Catholique, Thaidene Nene manager for the LKDFN, stated at the time that the search was “completely unreasonable” and was “an unnecessary violation of our Aboriginal and treaty rights”.
Catholique also alleged that children were crying and Elders were traumatized during the search and that tents and teepees were entered.
Thompson replied to those allegations on Sept. 15, 2022, outlining why officers were on site.
He stated that two officers were investigating separate reports from the public about illegal harvesting happening within the management zone.
He added that the officers entered the site with a search warrant and that 10 caribou were harvested, all located inside the zone, with a significant amount of edible meat wasted.
That search warrant was quashed in NWT Supreme Court by Justice Shannon Smallwood in October 2022; the Office of the Attorney-General admitted during court proceedings that it was issued “without lawful authority”.
Edjericon also wanted an update on where the investigation into what happened was at, noting that the department promised that it would be done well before now.
“We were told it was going to take six months, and here we are, a year later, and we still don’t see anything,” he said, citing that the courts had already ruled the search was unlawful.
Thompson repeated his previous answer that the investigation was ongoing for suspected illegal harvesting in a mobile zone and wastage of edible caribou.
Because of that, he said he couldn’t comment further.
Edjericon then asked if an internal review had taken place into why the search happened in the first place.
Thompson said that terms of reference for such a review had been developed and an independent third party to conduct the review had been identified, adding that the review will be done once the investigation has been completed.
Edjericon asked Thompson if he would drop the investigation altogether and offer an apology.
“For the record – just a simple yes or no,” he said.
Thompson did not say either of those, but said he’s already acknowledged that the search was difficult for some who were involved in harvesting caribou respectfully and that investigations are done independently by officers.
“We allow officers to do their work,” he said. “Once this is all said and done, I’d like to be able to say ‘This is what we’re doing’. Until that’s done, I need to follow the process.”