OTTAWA--"The Musqueam are receiving a reward for illegal acts, for the illegal sale of their food fish allocation," said John Cummins, M.P. (Delta-South Richmond).

Tomorrow morning the Department of Fisheries is giving the Musqueam another opportunity to harvest and sell fish commercially, this time in a 24-hour native-only commercial opening.

Last week the Musqueam Fisheries Co-ordinator, George Guerin, defiantly admitted that the Musqueam had engaged in the wholesale selling of their food fish catch. Such sales are specifically forbidden by the Fisheries Act.

This is the same George Guerin who went to the B.C. Supreme Court last week to have a court order on fishery protests amended to remove the reference to a "lawful" native commercial fishery. The Musqueam commercial fishery is patently not lawful and the band knew it.

The native commercial fishery has been found by recent court decisions to be illegal. Judge Thomas found that DFO had "chosen to disregard the law" in continuing the native-only commercial fishery.

"Obviously, the Department of Fisheries is having a hard time charging the Musqueam for selling food fish when the Department itself intends to disregard the law by opening a native-only commercial fishery."