Canada Fire destroys lobster pound in Nova Scotia, police say man in hospital with injuries

A First Nations leader called on Ottawa to send the military into fishing communities in southwestern Nova Scotia after a suspicious fire at a lobster pound early Saturday capped a week of rising tensions over Indigenous fishing treaty rights.

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Yarmouth County RCMP and the West Pubnico Fire Department responded to the blaze at a Middle West Pubnico, N.S., fish plant around midnight.

Sgt. Andrew Joyce said a man who is considered a person of interest in the fire is in hospital with life threatening injuries. He said police are still on the scene and the investigation is ongoing.

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Public Safety Minister Bill Blair has greenlighted a request for additional RCMP support in Nova Scotia amid criticism that Ottawa has not done enough to protect community members embroiled in a bitter conflict over a First Nations lobster harvest in that province. "Policing in Nova Scotia is within provincial jurisdiction," Blair said in a statement released Saturday. "I have now approved a request from Nova Scotia's attorney general to enhancePublic Safety Minister Bill Blair has greenlighted a request for additional RCMP support in Nova Scotia amid criticism that Ottawa has not done enough to protect community members embroiled in a bitter conflict over a First Nations lobster harvest in that province.

A federal promise of more police resources to contain escalating violence in southwestern Nova Scotia fishing communities met with scant approval Saturday, with one First Nations leader calling for military support in the wake of a suspicious fire . Federal opposition leaders, meanwhile, said the blaze that

READ MORE: Massive fire destroys lobster pound in southern Nova Scotia . However, police said a man is in hospital with life-threatening injuries believed related to the fire , but did not say who the man was and how he got injured . An RCMP officer told Global News the man is considered a person

The fire came in the wake of two violent clashes earlier this week involving hundreds of people outside lobster pounds that handle Indigenous-caught lobster.

Chief Mike Sack of the Sipekne'katik First Nation said some commercial fishermen are "taking the law into their own hands."

"They're doing whatever they want and getting away with it," he said in an interview. "We need the military to come step in to keep the peace."

Jonathan LeBlanc, fire chief for Eel Brook District Fire Department, said his team got a call around midnight about a blaze at a large commercial structure in West Pubnico.

He described the building as "a lost cause," but said crews were able to prevent damage to adjacent buildings.

"There was no hope of saving it," LeBlanc said of the building, noting it was engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived and the wind was stoking the embers.

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Andrew Joyce said a man who is considered a person of interest in the fire is in hospital with life-threatening injuries . He said police are still The fire came in the wake of two violent clashes earlier this week involving hundreds of people outside lobster pounds that handle Indigenous-caught lobster .

Fire Destroys Nova Scotia lobster pound in Middle West Pubnico. October 17, 2020, 11:47 PM. Earlier in the day, the fire led to a man being admitted in hospital with life-threatening injuries , the RCMP said . The development capped a week of rising tensions over Indigenous fishing treaty rights.

"The power lines to the building were arcing out quite severely. That made it very difficult for us to get close to extinguish it."

LeBlanc said it's still too early to identify the cause of the blaze, but the fire marshal's office is investigating.

The incident comes after recent violent clashes and damage to lobster pounds over the Indigenous fishery in the province.

The non-Indigenous protesters oppose the band's decision to start a commercial lobster fishing business that has operated outside the federally regulated lobster season since mid-September.

But Sack argues Indigenous people in Atlantic Canada and Quebec have a treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood where and when they want, based on a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision that cites treaties signed by the Crown in the 1700s.

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The warden of the Municipality of Argyle says he's worried about the safety of residents after a suspicious fire destroyed a lobster pound in Middle West Pubnico, N.S., early Saturday, amid ongoing tensions between commercial fishermen and Mi'kmaw fishers. "When violence like that happens, it doesn't always just mean property," Danny Muise told Radio-Canada on Sunday morning. "One of these days, something tragic is going to happen because the tension is getting worse and worse as it goes on, and as long as it goes on, you have to be more and more concerned about the safety of the residents.

A fight over indigenous rights has erupted in Canada's billion-dollar lobster fishing industry. A fight over indigenous fishing rights that's been decades in the making has come to a head in Nova Scotia , the Jason Marr, one of the indigenous fishermen stuck inside, said he had moved his lobster there

Read more: N.S. lobster pound destroyed by fire , man in hospital with life-threatening injuries . The fire erupted hours after police arrested and charged a man in relation to an assault against Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said he has approved a request by Nova Scotia 's Attorney General to

Many non-Indigenous critics, however, cite a clarification issued four months after the 1999 ruling, stating the Mi'kmaq treaty rights would be subject to federal regulations to ensure fish conservation.

On Twitter Saturday, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said he's reached out to the RCMP and the federal government to express First Nations’ "deep concern" over the fire.

"I demand a full and thorough investigation by the proper authorities," Bellegarde said.

A group of six Nova Scotia senators, meanwhile, condemned what they described as escalating violence against Mi’kmaq fishers. Their remarks came in a statment released just hours before the Middle West Pubnico blaze broke out.

“Regardless of whatever concerns individuals or groups may have, there can be no justification for the vigilantism and blatant racism that is now being witnessed,” the statement said.

“We urge everyone involved to remain calm and peaceful and let the discussions currently underway proceed without any further violent acts, racial insults or threats of any kind.”

The senators said the Mounties must “rapidly and effectively uphold their responsibility to restore peace and order.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2020.

Brett Bundale, The Canadian Press