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The Canadian Press

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MONCTON - Eleven years after he was charged with illegally digging clams in Kouchibouguac National Park, Jackie Vautour continues to argue that his constitutional rights as a Metis have been ignored by the justice system.

Vautour, 80, sat quietly in provincial court Tuesday as the Crown and defence delivered closing arguments in a trial that essentially questions the existence of Metis communities in Atlantic Canada.

Vautour claims he's Metis and as such is protected by the Constitution and should be allowed to follow the traditional practice of living off the land.

The Crown maintains there's no historic evidence of any Metis communities in Atlantic Canada and Vautour's argument is "woefully inadequate."

After listening to the arguments, Judge Pierre Arseneault said he would render his decision Feb. 12.

Vautour was charged with violating the National Parks Act by illegally digging clams out of season in September 1998 in Kouchibouguac. He was convicted but successfully appealed the case and in the recent trial has argued that his Metis heritage provides him with an aboriginal right to gather clams.

His son Roy Vautour, 53, was also charged.

Earlier this year, Jackie Vautour failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He appeared Tuesday with his wife and other supporters but said his son was home sick with the flu.

Vautour, who has spent more than 40 years fighting for the rights of families expropriated from the Kouchibouguac area to make room for the national park, was reserved throughout the proceedings.

In his closing arguments, defence lawyer Robert Rideout said the Metis culture can be traced back to the 1600s, when Samuel de Champlain brought French settlers to what is now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Rideout said Champlain encouraged French settlers to marry and breed with the aboriginal people to create the Metis.

He said Vautour continues to live off the land and was arrested for doing something his forefathers had done for generations and the arrest was an infringement of his rights under the Constitution.