An agreement could be on the horizon between Ottawa and Indigenous lobster fishers.
Mediation has been going well, according to a lawyer for the Sipekne’katik First Nation, who have been operating a moderate livelihood fishery in Digby County.
The band sued the feds in 2021, saying any enforcement infringes on their Treaty rights.
Now the two sides have been negotiating to further define the ‘moderate livelihood’ term and the 1999 Marshall Decision.
The lawyer asked a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge to allow more time for negotiations before litigation proceeds.
In court Thursday, a judge gave them another six months, but set a June court date for proceedings to resume if a deal isn’t reached.
Meanwhile, the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance are interveners in the case.
President Colin Sproul says the Judge recognized their concerns.
“We think he was entirely fair to give them more time in mediation, but also to demand that we move forward in our legal plan and go to discoveries in June,” said Sproul.
He says the UFCA has questions around the mediation process, which he calls a ‘back room deal.’
Sproul says it’s impossible to make any assumptions around that process, or what it means for their membership.
