R v Christmas, 2002 CanLII 16440 (NS SC)

This case was heard in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Mr. Christmas was a member of the Eskasoni Mi’kmaq Nation. In 1999, he was convicted of violating section 68 of the Nova Scotia Wildlife Act by hunting with the aid of a light. 

After Mr. Christmas was convicted, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court decided in R v Bernard, 2002 NSCA 5 (CanLII) that section 68 of the Wildlife Act did not apply to Mi’kmaq hunters exercising a valid Aboriginal right to hunt. In light of this decision, Mr. Christmas appealed his conviction and was acquitted. 

However, the court’s decision in R v Bernard was later overturned by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, which held that section 68 of the Wildlife Act did in fact apply to Mi’kmaq hunters. Following this decision, the Crown brought the current case before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to appeal Mr. Christmas’s acquittal and ask the Court to restore Mr. Christmas’s conviction. In this case, the Court had to decide whether to allow this appeal, given the latest interpretation of section 68 of the Wildlife Act.

The Court held that it was bound by the decision of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. It set the acquittal aside, allowed the appeal, and ordered a new trial.

This decision was later appealed in R v Christmas, 2003 NSCA 67 (CanLII).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssc/doc/2002/2002canlii16440/2002canlii16440.html

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