Republished January 16, 2019 - 11:37 AM
Original Publication Date January 15, 2019 - 3:11 PM
WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government says four men have been charged with hunting at night with lights.
The province says wildlife officers nabbed two men in December from the Lake Manitoba First Nation near Asher.
They were also charged with carrying a loaded firearm in a pickup and hunting on private land without permission.
In another case, officers arrested an Alberta man near Inglis and a man from the RM of Riding Mountain West and charged them with hunting at night with lights.
In both cases the trucks, firearms and spotlights were seized as evidence.
The charges were laid under the province's existing Wildlife Act, but amendments strengthening the legislation are waiting to be proclaimed.
Some Indigenous groups have said banning spotlight hunting infringes on their constitutional rights.
Premier Brian Pallister has called spotlight hunting inhumane.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said the men were charged under a new law.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2019