Participation by Natives an election question

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As the 1986 provincial election day May 8 draws closer, will Native people stand back and watch, as another Alberta government is elected or will they use their right to vote for the candidate or party of their choice?

No one can really say how each vote will affect the election results of improve their chances to make a better living. Most people would be happy to have enough opportunities to be able to make a decent life for themselves and their families. Yet no matter how we might want to ignore politics, the government plays an important part in our daily lives.

The provincial government of Alberta, through its actions, affects nearly everything we do or happens to us. Things like the number of jobs available, take-home pay, our kid's education, and health care are issues that would concern all Alberta residents. Other issues have a more direct importance to Aboriginal people, such as less government control, Aboriginal self-determination, Treaty rights versus provincial jurisdiction, Constitutional recognition of self-government status and improvement of services in Aboriginal communities.

Some frustrated voices say that there are not enough Metis and Indian voters in Alberta to make a difference, even if they all voted. Others add that the provincial government has not listened to Aboriginal people, never mind acting in their best interests. So, they reason, why bother voting?

This commentary is not pushing the idea that Indians and Metis get involved in partisan politics, or even proposing that Native people go vote.

The election coverage provided here is for your information on an event that happens regularly here in Alberta, the results of which have become increasingly important to Aboriginal people.

Some Treaty leaders want to keep a distance away from provincial politics so as not to cut official ties with the federal government. Yet more and more we see that the provincial government cannot abstain from Treaty issues. The First Ministers Conference on Aboriginal rights is a case in point. Also, Treaty Indians are increasingly finding - sometimes by painful and frustrating experience - that actions by the Alberta government do affect their lives and communities.

The Metis people have a more direct relationship with the Alberta government, so the election results may have a greater and more immediate impact for them. Alberta is the only Canadian province which has formal relationship with Metis people. The provincial government recently was making moves to change the Metis Betterment Act, which affects the eight Metis settlements of Alberta. Metis people not living on Metis settlements also have a direct communications with the province, through the Metis Association of Alberta. Metis leaders indicate that Metis have an important interest in the way the provincial government acts toward Aboriginal matters, both on the provincial and the national scene.

On the whole side, the upcoming provincial election results will have a profound effect on the lives of all the people who live in Alberta.