Cape Breton Post
A dispute has emerged between a mainland Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw rights group and Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton over a draft of an alleged proposed cannabis law which the rights group claims would “prohibit the distribution and sale of cannabis” within Membertou’s boundaries.
In a letter dated Nov. 24, 2024, sent to Membertou Chief Terry Paul and council members, as well as retired senator Dan Christmas, the Micmac Rights Association — based in Millbrook First Nation, near Truro — said they were writing “on behalf of our members in Membertou, as we understand from an undated draft of a proposed cannabis law that we were provided with.”
Violation of rights
The association went to say in the letter “that the Indian (sic) Act governance system in Membertou intends to prohibit the distribution and sale of cannabis within ‘Membertou lands.’
“Imposing such a prohibition on our members would violate their Aboriginal and treaty rights as Mi’kmaw people who have the constitutionally protected Aboriginal right to benefit from every plant and animal of creation, and the treaty right (outlined in Article 4 of the Treaty of 1752) to trade any product legal in Canada in ‘any settlement of the province’ to the ‘best advantage.’”
The association’s four-page letter makes reference to three position papers the group “produced in regard to (a) proposed cannabis control law” in Millbrook First Nation.
‘Medicine provided by creation’
One such position paper from 2023 mentions what the association considers as 12 elements of a ‘Section 35 cannabis compatible law.’ Included among those 12 points: ‘Cannabis is a medicine provided by Creation. It grows upon (Mi’kmaq land). All people have a right to a relationship with creation, and (Mi’kmaq) people have a right to sustain themselves through their relationship with creation on their own lands.”
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