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PRESS RELEASE ... May 4, 2007

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled yesterday Aroland First Nation member and beneficiary of hunting rights under Treaty No. 9 Howard Meshake can hunt on the traditional territory of his wife, Jeannie Carpenter, a member of the Lac Seul First Nation, a signatory to Treaty No. 3. 

Mr. Meshake was hunting moose near Sioux Lookout in Treaty No. 3 Territory, outside the boundaries of Treaty No. 9.  The Court of Appeal has ruled that in accordance with Ojibway custom, an Aboriginal person may shelter under the treaty rights of another First Nation in cases like Meshake’s where there is a kinship connection.  The Court found that the evidence supported a finding that Aboriginal Peoples travelled to other communities to marry, and continued to hunt, and that sharing community harvest through kinship was in harmony with the Ojibway custom of sharing harvests between First Nations and families.  This evidence allowed the court to conclude that Mr. Meshake was entitled to hunt because he had been accepted within the Lac Seul community, and welcomed to hunt with the Carpenter family.

This ruling recognizes that Treaty Rights may not be limited by the geographical boundaries identified in the Treaty, as has been the long-standing position of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.  “This decision is very important for my 10 year old son, Skyler, and for our future generations.  We must ensure that they can continue to practice our traditions.  I hope this case will be a stepping stone for our people in re-establishing our right to practice our life style as aboriginal people.” stated Mr. Meshake.

For further information or to talk Howard Meshake, please contact Julie or Linda at Beamish, MacKinnon Law Office 807-737-2809

We are very happy that our 10 1/2 year legal battle for the recognition of our rights is over.  We feel relieved that we can hunt in accordance with our traditions without fear of being charged by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 

We also are proud to be a part of the re-establishment of the rights of the Nishnawbe People to legally practice our way of life.  We believe it is important for our son Skyler and for all the future generations to be able to pursue their traditions and their Nishnawbe lifestyle. 

We would like to thank Grand Chief Stan Beardy of Nishnawbe Aski Nation for his support of our case.  We would also like to thank Chief Sam Kashkeesh of Aroland First Nation, Chief Clifford Bull of Lac Seul First Nation, former Chief David Gordon of Lac Seul First Nation, and former Grand Chief Leon Jourdain of Grand Council Treaty No. 3, for their support during our long court case.

We would also like to thank our parents, Howard and Elsie Meshake, and Isabella Carpenter for teaching us our traditions, and making us strong enough to stand up for our way of life. 

Finally we would like to thank our lawyers, Lou Strezos and Bill Henderson, who argued in the Ontario Court of Appeal, and Catherine Beamish, who supported us from the time of the charge until the final decision of May 3, 2007. 

For further information or to talk to Howard Meshake, please contact Julie or Linda at Beamish, MacKinnon Law Office 807-737-2809

From the Associated Content online ...

Ralph Rowe Pleads Guilty to 20 Charges of Sexual Offenses
By Znuage - May 08, 2007

On Monday, May 7, 2007, the trial of a convicted sex offender Ralph Rowe, who was once an Anglican minister, began at the Superior Court of Justice in a Northwestern Ontario city. Rowe plead guilty to 20 charges of sexual offenses involving First Nation boys in Northern Ontario between 1977 and 1987. The counts are 10 counts of sexual assault and 10 counts of indecent assault.

There were actually 24 further counts involving the same victims, but since Rowe's guilty pleas were to one count for each of the 20 victims. The Crown decided that there was no point in getting into a fight over a line in his criminal record. The trial will instead focus on 12 counts involving five different complainants, which was whittled down from a total of 56 charges originally on the indictment. The victims are from First Nation communities such as Muskrat Damn, Wunnumin Lake and Big Trout Lake.

The 20 counts Rowe pled to on Monday involved the fondling of and having boys masturbate him. The age of the boys range from five to fifteen years old. In most incidents, Ralph Rowe was the boys' care giver, and the boys would frequently sleep overnight at his Anglican Church Mission House in the communities. On these nights, he would pick different boys to come and sleep in his bed each night. Rowe was also a Boy Scout Master, and would sexually assault the boys on Boy Scout camping trips.

"They were young kids, they had faith in the church and a belief in Mr. Rowe and it's been a real betrayal of trust," Alvin Fiddler, deputy grand chief for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation told CBC News.

In 1994, Ralph Rowe, who now lives in Surrey, B.C., also faced similar sexual offenses involving 16 aboriginal boys between 1976 and 1982. He faced the charges at the Wunnumin Lake courtroom, and was sentenced to six years of jail time. He only served four and a half years. Superior Court Justice Erwin Statch announced that because of the plea agreement made in 1994, Rowe will not be sentenced to additional prison time for these twenty convictions, only concurrent time on his previous jail sentence. However Statch said for more serious charges, he could impose additional jail time if Ralph Rowe is convicted.

Justice Erwin Stach adjourned the proceedings until this morning, Tuesday, May 8 2007, where the victim impact statements from many of the twenty victims will be read in court.

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From CBC New online ...

Trial begins for ex-minister facing 56 sex charges
May 7, 2007 - CBC News

The trial of a former Anglican minister facing 56 sex-related charges involving children started Monday in a court in the northwestern Ontario community of Kenora.

The charges date as far back as the 1970s, when Ralph Rowe was a minister and a Boy Scout master in several remote First Nations communities in northern Ontario.

The trial, which is by judge alone, revolves around acts alleged to have taken place with boys aged six to 16.

Five men who say they were abused by Rowe will testify at the trial, while 25 others are expected to give victim impact statements.

Rowe, now 69 and living in Surrey, B.C., is expected to plead guilty to 20 of the charges against him, his lawyer told CBC News. His lawyer says there are plans for the Crown to withdraw more than 20 charges, while Rowe will go to trial with regard to allegations from five victims.

In 1994, Rowe was convicted of 27 counts of indecent assault and one count of common assault after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 16 boys during the same time period, and in many of the same communities.

He served three years of a six-year sentence in prison for those convictions.

Canada.com Network article ...

Native status card fraud costs taxpayers $33M a year
Paul Samyn, CanWest News Service

OTTAWA - Fraud and misuse of Indian status cards - which entitle natives to everything from free drug care, to tax-free purchases, to jobs in the United States - have been costing taxpayers an estimated $33 million a year.

Federal documents show the Indian Affairs Department has been working on a plan to stem the problem that has allowed non-natives to not only tap into a number of government benefits but also forego paying federal and provincial taxes.

But the bill to fix the problem won't be cheap. The department estimates it will cost $30 million over five years to come up with a new high-tech form of native identification to replace the roughly 763,000 easily forged paper cards now in use.

"The old card is basically 1960s technology and, as we found out, people can easily replicate it," said Ray Hatfield, a senior official at Indian Affairs.

Hatfield said the department has been aware since the mid-1990s that rights and benefits such as on-reserve housing, education and federal and provincial tax exemptions were being accessed by non-natives.

"We became aware of fraud and misuse through cards that would be turned in and there would be individuals trying to claim benefits they were not entitled to," Hatfield said.

"Once we realized that and it was brought to our attention that this was occurring, we looked at a way of improving the security of the card and the system as well."

The department said it does not have a breakdown of how much money was lost to fraud and what portion was due to misuse.

The push for a secure form of identification for Canada's natives has the backing of the Assembly of First Nations, which wants to ensure natives can continue to pass freely across the border and even work in the United States as part of a long-standing treaty.

"We, as First Nation people, value our rights to cross the border so we don't want anyone to misuse our rights," said Grand Chief John Beaucage.

Beaucage said the assembly has been working with the Indian Affairs Department to develop a card which might include features such as biometrics that it hopes will be made freely available to status Indians.

"I have heard of some fairly large numbers of cards stolen or being forged by non-native people getting tax benefits as well as using the cards for (free) pharmaceuticals," he said.

"Once obtained, they could also be used for illegal crossing of the border."

The AFN also wants the new status cards to meet the requirements the United States is imposing for entry into the country and has had discussions with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials on whether it could allow natives to cross the border without a passport.

NDP native affairs critic Jean Crowder, who obtained the federal documents under the Access to Information Act, said she is worried the department has been dragging its feet on fixing the problem with the cards.

"It shouldn't have taken them this long," she said.

Hatfield said a pilot project underway with Alberta bands on a new secure card is proceeding well and that a new card could be officially rolled out next year.

The department says the redesigned and modernized card will meet federal and international standards for identification cards and will incorporates the latest security features.

paul.samyn@freepress.mb.ca