Elections BC want the First Nations vote to count

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The candidates in the upcoming provincial election want your vote. That's why from columns in newspapers to sound bytes on television, they are taking every opportunity to highlight their platforms and make promises of a brighter future. They know one thing for sure: every vote counts.

That is exactly the message Pat Burns of Elections BC is trying to send out to the Aboriginal communities in British Columbia. As the first Aboriginal liaison officer in the province, Burns has gone to great lengths to contact all First Nation communities and friendship centres.

It's a tough job. The biggest lesson she has learned so far is many Aboriginal people simply don't see the point.

"There are several pockets of deep-set resistance to voting among certain bands or areas," said Burns. However, she also knows her job is crucial because in certain ridings, "Aboriginals have the power to sway the vote," she added.

This is something Aboriginal political leaders have known for a long time.

"We basically got Dave Barret's government elected in 1972," said First Nations Summit co-chair Bill Wilson, referring to the First Nations support that helped elect the former B.C. premier. Wilson thinks that while efforts to establish Aboriginal people's inherent right to self-government are under way, the fact remains that white people are still making all the major decisions affecting Aboriginal lives.

"I couldn't care less about white men's political parties," said Wilson, "but we are governed by non-Indians and have benefited very little from the way non-Indian people administer our affairs." He believes that Aboriginal people have a responsibility to "get out there and express our needs and desires," and this election is a perfect way to do just that.

However, both Wilson and Burns will tell you that most Native people are at best apathetic about voting, and everything from geography to education to historical burdens contributes to a tradition of low Native voter turn-outs.

Geographically, many reserves are too far from voting places, and a lack of transportation translates into minimal political participation. The Lytton Band in Boston Bar, for example, is situated on the west side of the Fraser River and has a population of about 300. Every May, the spring ice breaks up and the ferry the residents rely on becomes too dangerous to operate. Fortunately, this year the dangers of spring ice have lessened and the band councillor is attempting to request an on-reserve voting place. Similar situations across B.C. have long helped silence the Native voice in B.C. politics.

Some Native people don't vote because they don't know enough about the electoral process or because of a lack of literacy. Burns tries to overcome this obstacle by "translating" crucial information about how to vote into simple language and to speak to district election officers to make sure they are knowledgeable enough about the Aboriginal communities in their riding.

"Voter Education Kits" are also given to fifth -rade kids to take home so they can help inform their parents who may not speak or read English.

The biggest obstacle, however, is history. Aboriginal people weren't allowed to vote provincially until 1948 and didn't participate in the federal election until 1960. On top of that, many Native leaders believe it's against the principle of self-government and an endorsement of the white man's political system by taking part in elections. Others think it simply makes no difference because the white government has never helped them.

Don Moses, president of the All Nations Party of British Columbia, says these are all good reasons, but he continues to encourage First Nations people to "speak up and be more expressive as Canadian citizens" despite that their past support for the NDP may have done little good to their daily lives.

Meanwhile, he joins four other Aboriginal candidates in his party to try to capture the Native vote by presenting a "solid and pen platform." He's optimistic that First Nations people will vote First Nations.

"How can an Aboriginal person vote NDP when their track record has been all talk and no action and the Liberals want to deny even more than what we have now?" said Moses, who is running against the chief of his band in the Yale-Lillooet riding.

Moses had hoped to recruit 12 candidates, but was only able to find five: Dan Case in Cariboo South, Tony Goulet in Cariboo North, Emsily Boulton in North Coast, Joe Amos in Skeena and Moses himself in Yale-Lillooet.

"I was asked to just appoint candidates," he said, "but I don't think that's the way to go. There should be a legitimate support base, then the riding selects their candidates and the party endorses them."

Of the five candidates in his party, Moses said, Emsily Boulton has the best chance of winning the election in the North Coast riding, which has 40 per cent Aboriginal population.

Moses thinks both the wavering support of the NDP in the Native community and the efforts to encourage First Nations people to vote will help his party tremendously, but he's not concerned about Aboriginal candidates from other parties benefiting from the potentially higher turn-out, provided the candidate is well-qualified.

"Look at Eddie John," he said. "We think he has the quality to be a good MLA. We wish him the best and expect him to do well in his constituency."

Wilson takes it a step further in saying that if the Aboriginal candidate is but a token to the mainstream party, he would support non-Aboriginal candidates who do care about First Nations issues.

In the Vancouver-Mt. Pleasant riding, where many poor Aboriginal people reside, Wilson said the person to vote for is obviously Jenny Kwan. "That's a no-brainer," said Wilson, "because she's represented the riding extremely well." He compares Kwan to the Liberal's Aboriginal candidate Gail Sparrow, who was recently criticized by the Aboriginal Political Action Committee for failing o show up at the riding's candidates' forum. He said if an Aboriginal candidate shows little or no concern for the Native community, "even if she's my sister I wouldn't vote for her."

For this election, Wilson hopes the voter turnout statistics will demonstrate the potential of the Aboriginal vote, but in the long run, he agrees with Burns that the ultimate goal is getting Aboriginal people involved in the electoral process, even those who aren't old enough to vote now.

"Half of the Aboriginal population is youth," said Burns. "We're doing it for kids."

For more information on how to register to vote and where your voting station is, call Election BC's toll-free hotline at 1-800-661-8683.