Photo by Vince Fedoroff
HUNTER FINED – A bull elk is seen in 2016 by the Alaska Highway between Whitehorse and Haine Junction. A Yukon hunter has been fined $11,000 under the Wildlife Act for offences he committed involving elk in the Mendenhall area.
A Yukon hunter has been fined $11,000 under the Wildlife Act for offences he committed in the Mendenhall area, including lying to authorities about his activities.
A Yukon hunter has been fined $11,000 under the Wildlife Act for offences he committed in the Mendenhall area, including lying to authorities about his activities.
Last Friday, Marc Meyer, 36, was fined $11,000, plus a $1,100 victim fine surcharge, the Yukon government noted in a news release.
Meyer had pleaded guilty to three offences under the Wildlife Act, including hunting elk in a closed area in 2020 and 2021 and providing false harvest information relating to both elk.
“In October 2021, conservation officers were notified of a potential elk kill site in the Mendenhall area (west of Whitehorse),” the release said.
“Upon investigation, conservation officers determined the elk had been killed in a closed zone and false information was provided regarding the harvest location.”
Meyer is a resident licensed hunter with an elk exclusion area permit. He was charged with offences under the Wildlife Act related to this complaint.
“Meyer claimed the elk was harvested in the elk exclusion zone, where he was permitted to hunt, and recreated a kill site to support his statement,” the release said.
“Physical evidence found at the scene combined with professional and thorough investigative work determined this was false, and that the elk was killed more than 50 kilometres east in the Core (no hunting) zone.
“Further information obtained through this investigation revealed Meyer had also harvested an elk in the fall of 2020 in a closed zone, and reported that it was harvested in the exclusion zone.
“Meyer also failed to provide harvest information in 2019 for a moose harvested on the South Canol Road.”
In addition to the fine, Meyer is prohibited from hunting for eight years, including accompanying other hunters in the field.
He must forfeit all items seized during the investigation, including two firearms and all wildlife related to these incidents.
Conservation officers also seized Meyer’s vehicle as evidence, and still have it.
“In accordance to the plea agreement and the Wildlife Act, after the fine has been paid, the vehicle will be returned to Meyer,” the release said.
“He is also required to take the Hunters Education and Ethics Development course before applying for a future hunting licence.”
Conservation officers remind the public that Wildlife Act and Environment Act violations can be reported confidentially at any time to the TIPP line (1-800-661-0525) or through Yukon.ca/TIPP. “
“The Government of Yukon relies on public support and participation to help manage human activities in ways that conserve natural resources,” the statement said.
“When there are Wildlife Act infractions, it is important for the public to know how they have been dealt with.”
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Comments (11)
Up 3 Down 1
Conservatism Liberates! on Apr 1, 2022 at 10:49 pm
At - Liberalism Kills! on Apr 1, 2022 at 11:00 am:
While I support your message, Liberalism Kills, I have to address what I see as problematic in your submission. I want to look at everything from your syntactical lapses to your penchant for theatre.
Anyway, it is ‘malum’ prohibita and not mala prohibita. You must be a SFU grad or something - LOL!
I get that a consequence is not always negative but I think your use of the word here creates a negative connotation that is unwarranted.
War of all against all? That seems a little dramatic, don’t you think? What’s that you say? Yes, yes quite right:
The war of all against all is just a metaphor for fuel shortages, food shortages, supply chain issues, financial instability, scarcity of land, economic, social, political, legal/Justice system chaos, racialization of daily life while blurring the lines between them… Yah, yah… Don’t forget the Covid and the lockdowns and mandates…
I just thought that was Liberslism… I thought it was the expression of the will of the people through the exercise of their franchise. This is obviously what they want because they keep voting for it.
Up 9 Down 4
Liberalism Kills! on Apr 1, 2022 at 11:00 am
At - BnR on Mar 30, 2022 at 4:42 pm:
You absolutely miss the point in the rule of law. Laws are the product of necessity to regulate behaviours that would otherwise, but for the enforcement of laws, create chaos in society. It would be mob rule in a war of all against all but for the law.
All laws are have a hierarchy of relative morality behind them. They exist because society held these moral values as the necessary consequence of society. Laws such as those against murder and sexual assault are considered malum in se - They are wrongs in and of themselves.
Then there are laws that are mala prohibita, they are wrongs against an act or statute, statutory law. These wrongs are often wrongfully described as administrative law.
However, BnR these laws are compared all the time. They have differences in their impact and potential carceral jeopardy at sentencing. Nobody here is suggesting a lighter sentence for the moose killer, liar, liar, pants on fire dude. They are simply stating that in the relative terms of a weighted morality it seems much harsher than a lot of the sentences that the First Peoples get for murdering their own - The irony of Gladue.
But, anyway, what people are upset about BnR is the fact that governments show their contempt for the victims of crimes when the murder of a moose is seen to be dealt with more severely than the taking of a human life of a First People given the level of moral culpability involved. It is way out of line and it cheapens the lives of all individuals to do so.
This is wrong and you should be intrinsically compelled to apologize to everyone for your part in this. It’s disgusting!
Up 12 Down 2
motive unclear on Mar 31, 2022 at 7:00 pm
By my count, I come up with 8 punishments for a geographical violation of a hunter who bought a hunting license and a tag.
If only the same judicial zeal were applied to protecting human victims of crime...eh?
Up 13 Down 5
BnR on Mar 30, 2022 at 4:42 pm
The comments and comparisons between this incident and crimes covered under the criminal code of Canada are like comparing apples to alternators.
This was a violation of the Yukon Wildlife Act and is a summary conviction with maximum penalties set out in the legislation.
Murder is an indictable offense and is under the Criminal Code of Canada and has nothing to do with any Yukon legislation.
It's not a justice system, it's a legal system.
Up 31 Down 22
@Moose 101 on Mar 30, 2022 at 11:25 am
Hey Moose,
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that is because you are comparing a white guy who violated the wildlife act, to FN people thanks to special treatment like glaude, will practically never see the inside of a jail cell for more than a couple years, yeah even for murder. Don't forget there are two classes of people here in the Yukon when it comes to the justice system and when it comes to preferential employment, and that in itself is racist but shhh, we don't talk about that here.
Up 15 Down 13
Mitch Holder on Mar 30, 2022 at 8:44 am
I see some comments claiming there is something wrong with our justice system. That is correct, it is YTG, you know, the cancer of Yukon prosperity and intelligence.
Up 32 Down 8
Whitehorse on Mar 29, 2022 at 7:52 pm
This guys gets a serious penalty for his actions, one that I am sure changes his behaviour. Then, as we speak, 2 sisters who are cruel killers shooting a guy in the head with a compound blow for leisure, well, they get parole and sympathy due to some past trauma crap. I'm sorry, but neither of them ever faced consequences, and neither of them are being held accountable. But this guy, wrong as he is, gets the full force of justice. Something is really screwed up here.
Up 17 Down 13
North_of_60 on Mar 29, 2022 at 5:10 pm
Compared with the slaps-on-the-wrist meted out for more serious crimes, the punishment seems out-of-line with the offense. Yukoners are not 'equals before the law', and that attitude needs to change.
Up 96 Down 10
Moose101 on Mar 29, 2022 at 4:18 pm
OK - don't get me wrong here but you got to look at our Justice system. I agree Marc made a bunch of oblivious violations to the wildlife act and was punished appropriately to which I agree. But I also read article on the Pelly Crossing sisters (Silverfox) we are waiting on the outcome of the sentencing. One sister also has another murder conviction which she did about a year after she helped with this murder and she was out on parole.
There is something wrong with our justice system .
Up 111 Down 9
BnR on Mar 29, 2022 at 3:43 pm
His kills were deliberately covered up and were not the results of a simple accident.
He should be banned from hunting here for life. Period.
Up 76 Down 9
Good, but.... on Mar 29, 2022 at 2:11 pm
While I agree that stiff penalties and fines, along with forfeiting of rifles, etc. is a good deterrent not to abuse the privilege we have to hunt some if not the best terrain on the planet, it does make you think how inconsequential the penalties and fines are when it comes to career criminals, specifically thieves in the Yukon.
Let's adjust to scales of justice a bit, and perhaps we can also do something about all the theft plaguing our lovely territory?