The Manitoba Wildlife Federation has written to the RCMP calling for immediate action after licensed hunters were once again denied passage through the Bloodvein First Nation check stop on a public highway.
We believe the obstruction contravenes the provincial Highway Traffic Act and the Criminal Code and are urging the appropriate authorities to take immediate action. Failure to act risks setting a chilling precedent of indifference to unlawful conduct and sending a message that our laws apply only to some Manitobans. See full letter below.
September 22, 2026
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) D Division
1091 Portage Avenue
PO Box 5650
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3K2
Attention: Assistant Commissioner Scott McMurchy
Dear Assistant Commissioner McMurchy:
Re: Bloodvein First Nation Blocking Access to Public Lands
You will recall our correspondence last fall (our letter to you on August 29th, 2025, yours of September 19th, 2025, and ours of September 25th, 2025) expressing our concerns with efforts by Bloodvein First Nation (BFN) to restrict access by non-indigenous members of the public to an undefined area of provincial Crown Land, including travel on a public highway. When no enforcement effort was forthcoming, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation (MWF) was forced to seek an injunction against the illegal blockade.
At the Court of King’s Bench, BFN characterized the blockade as a check stop to prevent illegal drugs and alcohol into their community (a goal supported by MWF) and stated to Justice Bock that no licensed hunters or anglers would be turned away. The province then assigned Conservation Officers to ensure that BFN’s commitment was honoured, and non-indigenous members of the public were allowed to pass through.
Since then and beginning last February, MWF and the provincial government have made substantial efforts to find a solution, including attempts to meet with BFN and discuss ways to achieve their goals in respect to drugs and alcohol interdiction without interfering with public rights of access. MWF’s proposal to achieve these goals is to relocate the check stop from the public highway onto BFN reserve lands at the entrance to their reserve. MWF’s attempts at dialogue were met with multiple cancellations of meetings and refusals to engage.
We learned over the weekend that BFN is once again preventing passage by licensed hunters through their check stop on the public highway to the public land beyond. We remind you that many big game hunters have been issued licenses by the provincial government for hunting areas that are only accessible through this highway, and that this season opened on September 21st.
MWF is once again urging you to prevent the operation of this illegal barrier as soon as possible. We believe that it contravenes the provincial Highway Traffic Act and the Criminal Code. Failure to act will set a chilling precedent of indifference to lawlessness and send a message that our laws only apply to some Manitobans.
Please take immediate steps to enforce our laws.
Sincerely,
Carly Deacon
Managing Director
Manitoba Wildlife Federation
cc Premier Wab Kinew
Hon. Ian Bushie, Minister of Natural Resources, and Indigenous Futures
Hon. Matt Wiebe, Minister of Justice, and Attorney General
The Hon. Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety
