The Cast
“Our ancestors signed treaties protecting our rights, and if we don’t protect the rights and fight for the rights today, we won’t have those rights for the next generation”
- Wanda Joudry-Finigan, Fisherwoman, Bear River First Nation
“It’s not just a matter of telling our children to go out and break the law. That’s not what we’re really telling them. We’re telling them to go out and exercise their inherent right the way it’s supposed to be, traditionally, and with great respect.”
- Chief Frank Meuse Jr., Bear River First Nation
“We wanted to challenge the Department of Fisheries. We wanted to come up with our own plan, and we wanted to implement it.”
- Robie McEwan, Fisherman, Bear River First Nation
“We didn’t have to make a telephone call to the Department of Fisheries – the non-native fisherman had made that phone call and said ‘you let Bear River out on the water!” - and there were no if, and or buts.”
- Sherry Pictou, former Chief, Bear River First Nation
“The reasoning behind it was if you take the fisheries and put it in the hands of a few...the government sees that as just a whole lot easier; but what that does is put the ownership of a Canadian resource into the hands of a few individuals.”
- Martin Kaye, Bay of Fundy Marine Resource Centre
“Sooner or later, I’ve got to make up my mind: do I sell out, or do I keep my hope that people are going to hold together and get this mess straightened out?”
- Terry Farnsworth, fisherman