Aboriginal people encouraged to cast their vote

Elections Canada is working to get a message to Aboriginal people across the country that their votes count. And the body that runs the country's elections isn't alone. A number of Aboriginal organizations are also urging the people they represent to get out and vote on Jan. 23.

Some, like the Metis National Council,which issued a press release on Jan. 5 encouraging Metis people to vote Liberal,are providing a suggestion as to which party its members should support. Others, such as the Assembly of First Nations, are providing information about each party's platform and leaving it up to each individual to decide for themselves.

The percentage of eligible Aboriginal voters who cast ballots in federal elections is traditionally lower than the percentage for Canadians as a whole. According to information on the Elections Canada Web site, it's estimated that about 40 per cent of Aboriginal electors voted in the last federal election on June 28, 2004, while the overall turnout rate across the nation was about 60 per cent.

There is good reason for the concerted push to get Aboriginal people to vote. According to 2001 census figures from Statistics Canada, there are 26 ridings across Canada where Aboriginal people make up 10 per cent or more of the electorate, and five of those are in Saskatchewan.

In the Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River riding, formerly the Churchill River riding, it's estimated that 54 per cent of eligible voters are Aboriginal. That means the decision as to who will represent the riding in the House of Commons could feasibly be made by the Aboriginal community.

Aboriginal voters make up about 16 per cent of voters in the Prince Albert riding. In Regina-Qu'Appelle and Battlefords-Lloydminster, the figure is 14 per cent. And in the riding of Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, about 12 per cent of voters are Aboriginal.

The campaign in the Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River riding-the largest riding in the province, covering most of the area north of Prince Albert-is attracting a lot of attention because Aboriginal voters could hold the balance of power, and because two of the four candidates running in the election are Aboriginal.

The Liberal candidate in the riding is Gary Merasty, a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and the former grand chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council. Running for the NDP is Anita Jackson, a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band who has worked in the social services and health sectors and is currently employed as a constituency assistant for Cumberland MLA Joan Beatty.

The issues that Merasty sees as key for the people in the riding include support for health, education, justice and child and family services, increased economic development, improvements to infrastructure, and improved governance relationships to avoid jurisdictional conflicts.

Jackson has been focusing her campaign on what the NDP can do to help address the problems of inadequate housing, poverty, and limited access to services in the north, as well as on what can be done to deal with the issues of violence against women and violence against children.

The two Aboriginal candidates are up against incumbent Conservative MP Jeremy Harrison, a communications consultant and forester who grew up in Meadow Lake. John A. McDonald, who was born and raised in the riding but who now lives in Gibbons, Alta. is running for the Green Party.

Aboriginal candidates didn't fair well in the riding during the last election. Three of the five candidates battling for the seat-incumbent MP Rick Laliberte, who ran as an independent, Earl Cook for the NDP and Al Ducharme for the Liberals-were Aboriginal, but none drew enough votes to win. But those results don't concern Merasty or Jackson.

"I think in the last election, the majority of the support went to the Aboriginal candidates, it was just split. So this time there will not be a split," Merasty said. "There's a huge outpouring of support for myself and my candidacy and the Liberal Party, based on the policies that have been announced and worked on and the relationships established over the years. So we're quite confident that the electorate will come out and increase their turnout, first of all. And number two, concentrate on support for ourselves."

Jackson isn't concerned about the Aboriginal vote being split either, she said.

"I'm not worried about that at all because I think what has translated in this election is that northerners have some real choices that they can make. They have some quality candidates that they can choose from and so I think that changes things completely."

Harrison, too, is hoping to attract the Aboriginal vote. The MP has served as the Conservative critic on issues relating to Metis and non-status Indians and is vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. While in Ottawa, he pushed for compensation and recognition of Aboriginal war veterans, helped put together a report outlining a plan for compensation for residential school survivors and fought to have the gun registry scrapped. His efforts, he said, have earned his support from community leaders, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.

"I've worked very, very hard in reaching out and building relationships with First Nations and Aboriginal leaders right across the province," Harrison said. "Right across the country, for that matter, because it's my job in Ottawa as well."

Both Merasty and Jackson said working on ways to encourage Aboriginal people to vote has played a major role in their campaigns.

"The reality is that in the north, people have not been involved in the political process for very long. They've been involved in the tribal process, but they've not been involved in the federal processes and the provincial processes. So that has a lot to do with why there's a low voter turnout," Jackson said.

"In addition to promoting the NDP platform, we've also been talking to people about why we need to get out and vote and why young people need to get out and vote. We probably sound more like campaigners for Elections Canada than the NDP."

Judging from what the candidates are seeing and hearing as they campaign, all these efforts seem to be paying off.

"I haven't seen this much mobilization of support to get the vote out ever," Merasty said.

Jackson and Merasty aren't the only Aboriginal candidates making a run for a seat in the House of Commons. Saskatchewan voters also have a chance to elect an Aboriginal MP in the Battlefords-Lloydminster riding, where Dominic LaPlante, a 21-year-old Metis candidate, is running for the Liberal Party. This is the first time LaPlante, who works in the Nehiyaw Smoke Shop in North Battleford, has run for public office, although he has been a member of the Liberal Party since he was 14.

Running against LaPlante is incumbent Conservative MP Gerry Ritz, who has represented the riding since 1997. Teacher Elgin Wyatt is running for the NDP and Jim Pankiw, the former Reform Party MP for the Saskatoon-Humbolt riding, is running as an independent candidate.

Norbert Kratchmer, a farmer born and raised near Reward, is the Green Party candidate for the riding, and Harold Stephan, a journeyman plumber, sheet metal worker and gas fitter, is running under the Christian Heritage Party banner.