R v Simon, 1982 CanLII 2946 (NSSC)

This case was heard in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Appeal Division.

At trial, the appellant, James Matthew Simon, was convicted of two offences under Nova Scotia’s Lands and Forests Act. Mr. Simon was Mi’kmaw, and in his defence he argued that he had a treaty right to hunt and to possess the firearms needed for hunting. Mr. Simon relied on the Mi’kmaw-British Treaty of 1752, and he also relied on section 88 of the Indian Act, which limits the application of provincial laws when relevant treaties are in place. Mr. Simon’s defence had been rejected at trial because the trial court held that the hunting rights given by the Treaty of 1752 had been extinguished. When Mr. Simon appealed, the Appeal Division had to determine whether the trial court had erred in its decision. The Appeal Division held that the trial court had come to the right decision. The Court agreed with the Crown’s argument that the Treaty of 1752 had been extinguished by subsequent hostilities between the Mi’kmaq and the British, and the Court also held that, even if the Treaty had not been extinguished, Mr. Simon had failed to prove his connection to the Mi’kmaw group that signed it. For these reasons, the Court dismissed Mr. Simon’s appeal.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssc/doc/1982/1982canlii2946/1982canlii2946.html

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