Mount Allison president Jean Paul Boudreau has issued a letter to students and staff addressing the fishing dispute in Nova Scotia.
In his letter, Boudreau acknowledges Mount Allison’s location in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral lands of the Mi’kmaw People, and says the university remains committed to reconciliation.
He says, “it is troubling to see yet another conflict that pits non-Indigenous and Indigenous people against one another,” and that he is disturbed by “the eruption of anti-Indigenous sentiment in this dispute.”
He says despite, “the complexity of the situation in Saulnierville, violence and intimidation are inexcusable as they will serve only to deepen the divide, making meaningful discourse and resolution more difficult.”
Boudreau says disagreements must be resolved through dialogue, not intimidation or force.
Boudreau commends the efforts of a group of students who are setting up donation boxes across campus in hopes of collecting non-perishable healthy snacks, items of warm clothing, flashlights, and batteries that will be donated to assist Mi’kmaq fishers and their supporters in Saulnierville.
He says that anyone interested in making a monetary donation to support these efforts can reach out to Mount Allison’s Indigenous Affairs Co-ordinator, Patty Musgrave-Quinn.
Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton has also weighed in on the situation, condemning, “the violence and intimidation being directed at Mi’kmaq fishers,” via a statement released on social media.
Milton says the rights of Mi’kmaw fishers “must be protected and those who are perpetrating violence must have neither permission nor impunity.”
Milton points to the 1999 Supreme Court Marshall decision which,
“affirmed a treaty right to hunt, fish and gather in pursuit of a ‘moderate livelihood’, arising out of the Peace and Friendship Treaties”.
Mitton calls on the, “Prime Minister and federal government to immediately ensure that these treaties and rights are respected and that the Sipekne’katik community members can exercise their rights and get back to work safely.”
