Metis leader's provincial election challenged

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Lyle Donald and Brenda Blyan Calliou are trying to force a recount in the election that saw Audrey Poitras returned as president of the Metis Nation of Alberta.

The two were unsuccessful candidates in the most recent election. Bylan Calliou was the MNA vice-president in the last administration. She ran against Poitras, the MNA incumbent, for the top job and was defeated. Donald ran for a zone presidency this past summer and was likewise defeated.

Both Donald and Blyan Calliou suspect there was corruption at the polls that favored Poitras. They believe a recount will provide evidence to back up their suspicions. They say Poitras was only in a position to succeed Gerald Morin when he was removed by the Metis National Council board of governors (of which Poitras became a member upon her re-election) because of this alleged corruption.

There are always disgruntled losers in elections. But these two stand out from that crowd because they did something that's fairly unusual; they went to court seeking an order for a recount.

"It was basically to challenge the election. The way things were handled. To show that [Chief Electoral Officer] Stan Plante did not run the election properly," Donald alleges.

He alleges that the people who ran the polling stations were relatives and friends of incumbent office holders.

Donald and Blyan Calliou petitioned the Court of Queen's Bench in Edmonton to look at allegations of improper monitoring of polling stations and possible voting irregularities. Knowing it could well be after the end of Poitras' term by the time the matter made it to court, the lawyers representing the MNA, the chief electoral officer and the two petitioners agreed to let the MNA judicial council attempt to settle the matter.

The judicial council is a group of people appointed to rule on conflicts between members of the MNA. The council called a recount after hearing Plante admit that some mistakes had been made in conducting the polling. Plante later recanted.

A hearing was held in Edmonton on Jan. 18. Donald and Blyan Calliou were hoping the judicial council would explain why the ruling that a recount be conducted had not been carried out. But Howard Sniderman, the lawyer acting for the MNA, asked the judicial council to put the matter on hold while his client's counter complaint was heard.

Howard Sniderman told the judicial council that the petitioners were trying to "hoodwink" them. "They're trying to use this judicial council to achieve a goal that they started improperly in court," he said.

He said the petition for a recount did not allege corruption. "The issue is whether or not the election is under challenge," he said. "If it's the processes they're challenging, a recount is irrelevant." The council reserved a decision until Feb. 22.

Brenda Blyan Calliou said the legal hair-splitting was not what the judicial council was supposed to be about. It was supposed to be an informal forum where lawyers were not involved so the cost wouldn't make the process inaccessible to grassroots members. When she and Lyle Donald tried to get the council to listen to Clifford Gladue, a man who had helped set up the judicial council, tell them that, chairman Dwayne Cunningham refused.

When they saw they were not going to get what they came for, Donald and Blyan Calliou asked the council to secure the ballot boxes, which were in storage at the MNA offices. Donald suggested the people who may have benefitted from any possible irregularities should not have access to the boxes. Cunningham refused that request as well.