A number of organizations, including the BC Assembly of First Nations, are condemning recent threats made to a Blueberry River First Nation Chief.
Those condemnations came following voicemail threats sent to Chief Judy Desjarlais, targetting her and other Nation members with death threats.
In the voicemail, the caller references a recent provincial proposal to close caribou hunting and halve moose hunting in the Peace Region.
That plan, which would be in place for two years if approved, has received significant backlash from multiple conservation, tourism, and hunting groups.
But the threats stem from misinformed beliefs over ongoing negotiations with the Nation, resulting from a recent legal victory.
Those negotiations will help to determine hunting regulations on Nation territory, with regards to upholding their inherent rights to trap, hunt, fish, and practice their culture on their territory.
They come after the Yahey v. BC court decision from last June determined the province had failed to uphold those rights.
Chief Desjarlais says the Nation believes that as long as wildlife management and habitat restoration is sustained, a healthy hunting industry can exist for all in the future.
While that may require some temporary protections in some areas, nothing has been finalized yet on the provincial level.
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