The chief of the We’koqma’q First Nation says there are no plans to block the upcoming moose hunt.
Rod Googoo says they considered blocking access to the hunting grounds.
Googoo tells The Hawk it was in response to the fishing dispute in St. Mary’s Bay.
“At that point in time, we thought the governments were not helping us or supporting us- something like that is very radical, very drastic, (and) that would be the last resort for all of us,” he says. “How is that going to help anything? How is that going to resolve all of the issues we have by just adding more issues, and more conflicts?”
Googoo says they’ve since met with Bernadette Jordan, the federal fisheries minister, and Carolyn Bennett, the Crown-Indigenous relations minister.
He says they’ve also received a show of support from Premier Stephen McNeil.
“I don’t see any point in escalating this conflict,” he says. “We will not be hindering or prohibiting anybody from going up.”
Googoo says it’s better to move forward cooperatively and honour the spirit of the Peace and Friendship Treaties.
