{"id":499528,"date":"2026-02-25T23:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499528\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T23:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:12:09","slug":"innu-chief-condemns-cowboy-tactics-after-wildlife-officers-raid-cabin-for-caribou-carcass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499528\/","title":{"rendered":"Innu chief condemns ‘cowboy’ tactics after wildlife officers raid cabin for caribou carcass"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An Innu community on Quebec\u2019s Lower North Shore is shaken by an intervention by wildlife officers who circled and attempted to enter a cabin in Ekuanitshit Monday evening, injuring an elderly woman in the process.<\/p>\n

The officers, armed with a search warrant, were there to check for the presence of a boreal caribou carcass \u2014 a species of caribou listed as a threatened species<\/a> under both federal and provincial legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the intervention turned tense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Community members filmed and posted videos of the interaction to social media, prompting reaction from Indigenous communities who underlined the conflicting dynamic between Indigenous hunting practices and wildlife laws. <\/p>\n

Quebec\u2019s provincial police confirmed to Radio-Canada that officers were present to support the game wardens in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over a dozen officers were involved, says Jean-Charles Pietacho, chief of Ekianitshit, who witnessed the intervention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really lacked respect. They came in like cowboys, banging on doors,\u201d said Pietacho.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A grandmother who was in the cabin with her family blocked the agents from entering, he says. When officers cracked the cabin\u2019s windows, a shard of glass hit and cut her face, according to the chief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AEvelyne Pi\u00e9tacho says she was injured in the intervention with wildlife agents on Monday evening. In a message to CBC, she said she suffered a cut near her eye. (Submitted by Evelyne Pi\u00e9tacho)<\/p>\n

Evelyne Pi\u00e9tacho confirmed in a message to CBC that she was the woman injured in the intervention on Monday evening and sent along a photo of her face showing a cut near her eye.<\/p>\n

An \u2018intrusion in our lives,\u2019 chief\u00a0says<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Pietacho spoke out about how this intervention further fractured the relationship between the community and the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like an intrusion in our lives,\u201d he told CBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the history we unfortunately have lived for the past 100 years and it’s continuing today in 2026. But we will not give up, that\u2019s for sure. We will not give up on doing what we can for [the protection] of our traditional food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AChief Jean-Charles Pietacho said the officers lacked respect during the intervention. (Daniel Fontaine\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n

A day after the intervention, police in the Innu community of Pakua Shipi issued a news release saying wildlife officers were no longer authorized to intervene in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision is intended to prevent any escalation and to ensure the safety of everyone,\u201d read the statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRecent events that occurred near another community demonstrate that the absence of structured dialogue can create unnecessary tensions and compromise the safety of both officers and community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wildlife officers can use ‘necessary means,’ says union<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement, Quebec\u2019s wildlife protection officers’ union confirmed eight agents were involved in the intervention. The union said the woman injured by a piece of broken glass was not seriously hurt. <\/p>\n

“This injury was caused by the people who resisted allowing us to enter to carry out our search,” read the statement. <\/p>\n

“When a warrant is issued, we execute it, and when there is resistance \u2014 as we observed during the intervention a few days ago \u2014 the officers are entitled to use the necessary means to gain access, which is what was done.” <\/p>\n

Due to what it called “extremely high tension,” the agents took only one sample \u2014 an ear \u2014 from the caribou to prove it was a vunerable boreal caribou, read the news release. <\/p>\n

The union said despite debate, the government has given its members a mandate to protect wildlife. <\/p>\n

No more interventions \u2018until the dust settles\u2019: minister<\/p>\n

Questioned at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Ian Lafreni\u00e8re, the minister responsible for public security and relations with First Nations and Inuit, expressed his concern regarding the events.<\/p>\n

He offered to meet with the chiefs of Ekuanitshit and Nutashkuan over the coming days. This invitation will later be extended to the entire Innu Nation, he specified.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lafreni\u00e8re added that wildlife protection officers will no longer intervene within the communities “until the dust settles” and they have had the chance to speak with the chiefs.<\/p>\n

\"A Minister Ian Lafreni\u00e8re offered to meet with chiefs over the coming days. (Sylvain Roy Roussel\/CBC)<\/p>\n

A line was crossed on Monday and “trust is broken,” said Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador Chief Francis Verreault-Paul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He condemned the methods used by law enforcement but told Radio-Canada he\u2019s ready to collaborate with the Quebec government on this matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“About 20 S\u00fbret\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec officers, accompanied by wildlife officers \u2014 all of them armed \u2014 descending on a cottage in the middle of the night for possibly\u00a0one boreal caribou is not the way to do things,” Verreault-Paul told Radio-Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-499528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}