News & Events
Do our votes count? System must change
October 8, 2008
Boozhoo, Tansi, Ho Dakota, Han Dakota
Do our votes in the federal election even matter?
I will be voting, but also know that my vote - and the votes on every First Nation in Manitoba - will not have an impact on the results in the constituencies where we live.
Look at some of the results from the 2006 federal election. In Dauphin-Swan River constituency, Conservative Inky Mark won easily finishing with 20, 084 votes, while NDP candidate had 6,221 and the Liberal 6,171.
Yet, when you look at First Nations totals, the Conservatives were extremely unpopular. For example, look at the combined totals for four of the First Nations in Dauphin Swan River: Waywayseecappo, Rolling River, Sandy Bay and Ebb and Flow. Mark got only 45 of the 1,002 votes cast on those four First Nations.
The results were similar at most First Nation polling stations in rural Manitoba.
In Brandon-Souris Conservative Merv Tweed got 20, 247 votes, finishing 13,000 ahead of the second-place NDP, but was unpopular on First Nations. At Sioux Valley he got only eight of the 190 votes.
In Provencher, Conservative Vic Toews had 25,199 votes, finishing more than 20,000 ahead of the second-place Liberal, but at Roseau River he got only 10 of 119 votes. In Selkirk- Interlake James Bezan won by a healthy margine but at Lake Manitoba but he got only five of 207 votes, which was still better than his total of one vote - that's right, one vote - out of the 137 at the Lake St. Martin polling station.
I would love to tell Indians that their votes could affect the election. However if they don't live in the northern riding of Churchill or one of the ridings in Winnipeg where the results could be close, their votes won't affect on the result.
The reason votes of people on First Nations don't have much impact is we are surrounded by rural non-Natives who overwhelmingly support a different political party than ourselves.
The electoral system should be reformed so that our votes will count. One option would be to create separate ridings for First Nations so that we could elect Members of Parliament who truly represent our interests. Initiatives like the First Nations Peoples Party are destined to fail unless the riding system is changed to give us clout. This is an issue I intend to pursue in the future.
Meanwhile, I will vote on Oct. 14, not because I expect the Indian vote to affect the results in Dauphin-Swan River, but because I want to show where I stand - or don't stand - with the political parties. As a leader I want to be able to tell a government: "You don't speak for us because First Nations voters rejected your party." We could also say to other parties: "Hey, our people supported you, now it is your turn to stand up for us."
First Nations representatives should have a say on who will be the Minister of Indian Affairs and who will be the opposition critics for First Nations issues.
During the last two years the Liberal opposition blew an opportunity to raise the profile of Indian Issues because they made Winnipeg MP Anita Neville, rather than Churchill MP Tina Keeper their party's critic. Keeper, a talented and famous Cree, would have drawn all kinds of media attention. If I could vote for her, I would.
Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin probably had more understanding of First Nationsissues than any non-Aboriginal MP in Canada and he was an excellent Indian Affairs critic from 2001 to 2004. He should have been re-appointed to that post but instead NDP leader Jack Layton made BC MP Jean Crowder his new critic. She has been close to invisible.
We often hear through the mainstream media that Indians don't vote. That is totally untrue. Voting and interest in politics is extremely high during elections for Chiefs and Band Councils. For instance, at Sandy Bay about 1,200 people voted in the 2006 band election. Voting turnout at First Nations is two to three times higher than during federal and provincial elections. It is only during elections where our votes don't count that turnouts are low.
I recently got an e-mail from a Roseau River man who was opposed to participation in federal, provincial and band elections. All of these political systems are European in origin and any participation encourages assimilation, he wrote. I have heard these comments before from elders. They make good points and I will give this issue attention in a future edition of South Wind.
For now I will just say that I participate. If I ignored these elections, they would still exist and the system will continue without my involvement. So, until something better is created - or returned to - I will continue to vote and get involved.
It should also be remembered that official politics is only one option. We can also use other tools such as pursuing legal action, to the extent that we can afford it financially, developing our economic strength (remember, money talks), and taking an "activist" approach through such things as rallies and demonstrations, maybe blockades.
First Nations organizations and Indian people must ready themselves for action, so they can take whatever approaches are needed after the federal election. We must be ready to both negotiate and fight. Fighting ability requires building strength by working with the grassroots and building alliances with other groups of people.
Meegwetch, Ekosi, Pidamayepido
Grand Chief Morris J. Swan Shannacappo