Urban Native votes won't be counted separately

Page 3

Natives who cast their votes from urban areas in the Oct. 26 referendum will

not be counted separately like the votes of those in aboriginal communities and reserves, Elections Canada announced recently.

That decision has left urban Natives wondering if the self-governing status promised in the agreement has been breached before the vote even takes place.

There are large groups of Natives living in the city and their vote could make a difference overall, said the executive director of the Indian Friendship Centre in Calgary, an association that represents hundreds of Natives who live in the city.

Laverna McMaster is also President of the National Association of Friendship Centres.

Richard Rochefort, spokesman for Elections Canada, said there was not enough time before the vote to determine how many Natives live in urban areas. A separate ballot box was considered, but after some research they concluded that there was also not enough time to administer this type of system.

"Not enough time" is not a good enough excuse, she said. "They've been working on this since Meech Lake. They should have started collecting this kind of information a long time ago."

McMaster said the urban vote was specifically important because many Natives

in urban areas believe they will lose their current rights and social benefits under self-government.

"The government is trying to divide us into a bunch of different groups and those groups will receive social benefits under those headings. We need to maintain our funding for all Natives whether they are Metis, status or non-status," she said.

Many are confused as to whether or not they will vote at all because the vote is going through so quickly and most don't understand what changes will occur if they vote yes.