Supreme Court ruling on First Nations fishing rights remembered 25 years later
On Sept. 17, 1999, Donald Marshall Junior won a landmark Supreme Court ruling that allowed First Nations people to fish for what the court called "a moderate livelihood."
Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of what has come to be known as the Marshall Decision, and many – including his family – remembered its impact then and now.
"For him, it took such a toll to have to go through the court process - to be in the public eye,” said Colleen D’Orsay, Donald Marshall Junior’s widow. Marshall Junior died in 2009 from complications following a lung transplant six years earlier.
D’Orsay said while her late husband’s fight has largely been worth it, there have been several instances in of fighting on Maritime waters between Mi’kmaq and non-Native fishers in the last 25 years.
She says she and their son, Donald Marshall III, were in Saulnierville, N.S., four years ago during the so-called “lobster wars” between the two sides.
"What saddens me on his behalf and the behalf of the Mi'kmaq people is that it hasn't been implemented - the fishing rights haven't been implemented - the way that they ought to be,” D’Orsay said.
Until recently, Jeff Ward was the manager of the Membertou Heritage Park, which still has Marshall Junior's old eel nets on display from his arrest on the waters while fishing in 1993.
"Those eel nets - to us and to me – it's like the Holy Grail of evidence,” Ward said. "They've changed lives. Yet still, today, they cannot define 'moderate livelihood.' So, the work is still not done."
Herb Nash, a longtime fishermen's representative in Glace Bay, N.S., says the non-Native fishers he knows have largely had no issue sharing the waters over the past quarter-century since The Marshall Decision.
"I think at first, a few people were maybe upset about it and that but over the course of a few years - a couple of years, and that - everybody knew it was there,” Nash said. “We had to get along with it. I don't have a problem with them being here. They're not doing no more harm than our own are - we're all fishing for a living."
Artist and photographer Steven Wadden is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Marshall Decision with a photo exhibit in Sydney's Eltuek Arts Centre.
One of the photos features Donald Marshall III - part of the next generation of Mi'kmaq fishers whose rights his father fought for.
"They are implementing those rights,” his mother said. “They are feeling that pride, and that they are moving forward and advancing these causes is really heartwarming and Junior would have really loved to have seen it."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Airlines' challenge of Canada's passenger protection rules rejected by Supreme Court
Canada's airlines have failed in their challenge of air passenger protection rules that the federal government implemented in 2019.
Tax rebate: Canadians with low to modest incomes to receive payment on Friday
Canadians who are eligible for a GST/HST tax credit can expect their final payment of the year on Friday.
A 6-year-old girl was kidnapped in Arkansas in 1995. Almost 30 years later, a suspect was identified
Nearly 30 years after a six-year-old girl disappeared in Western Arkansas, authorities have identified a suspect in her abduction through DNA evidence.
WestJet ordered to reimburse B.C. passenger for hotel, despite claim bill was 'excessive'
WestJet failed to convince a B.C. tribunal that a woman whose flight was delayed for three days spent an "excessive" amount on a hotel room, and the airline has been ordered to pay her full bill.
RCMP recovered 115 out of 205 lost firearms, 2 machine guns still missing
More than half of the 205 firearms lost by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police since 2020 have been recovered, but two machine guns remain missing.
Economic experts call it 'terrible policy,' but most Canadians support expansion of Old Age Security benefits: Nanos survey
Amid new polling indicating most Canadians support boosting Old Age Security benefits by 10 per cent for seniors aged 65 to 74, a former Liberal finance minister and former Bank of Canada governor are warning the government not to pursue the policy change.
When a massive asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, ants began farming fungi
Exactly 150 years ago, scientists first discovered that leaf-cutter ants were cultivating gardens of fungi inside their nests, feeding the fungi bits of leaves and in turn eating the tips of the fungal webs.
Pit bulls in B.C. pet mauling tested positive for meth, cocaine, says city
Three pit bulls involved in a deadly attack on another dog last month in Kamloops, B.C., tested positive for methamphetamine and cocaine, and the city is going to court to have them put down.
Scientists looked at images from space to see how fast Antarctica is turning green. Here's what they found
Parts of icy Antarctica are turning green with plant life at an alarming rate as the region is gripped by extreme heat events, according to new research, sparking concerns about the changing landscape on this vast continent.