'Voter suppression': Indigenous Albertans want options to vote on plebiscite and referendums
Indigenous people won't be able to vote on reserve in the upcoming plebiscites, referendums and senate elections later this month.
That's because the province linked those ballots to the municipal elections and First Nations reserves are not officially municipalities.
Those communities do hold band elections, but they aren't at the same time as civic elections in Alberta.
As a result, many people living on Alberta reserves will be required to vote by special ballot, or drive to the nearest community to cast a ballot. In some cases, the drive could be over an hour to get to a polling station.
In an emailed statement to CTV press secretary to the municipal affairs minister Ric Mciver said “First Nations on-reserve residents can cast Senate nominee election/referendum votes by voting through a partnering municipality or, if a neighbouring municipality is unable to host, by voting through a special mail-in ballot."
Adam North Peigan, a member of the Piikani First Nation, says the province's failure to provide the same access to polling on reserves as it provides to other Alberta communities is a slap in the face to Indigenous people.
"It's voter suppression and disenfranchisement of the Indigenous people in Alberta, and whether or not it was an oversight, it's still very much excluding the rights of the Indigenous people to meaningfully participate in something like this," said North Peigan.
"You know what, it could be interpreted as systemic racism within our current government, but it is a very poor reflection of meaningful reconciliation with the Indigenous people in the province of Alberta.”
There are 51 First Nations reserves in Alberta and an additional eight Métis settlements, comprising approximately 77,000 voters.
Smith told CTV News that Elections Alberta has struck partnerships with 32 First Nations to provide polling opportunities.
That leaves residents on 19 reserves without a local method of casting ballots.
The deadline for requesting a special ballot is 4 p.m. on Friday.
None of the solutions provided satisfy North Peigan.
"It's our opinion that Jason Kenney, Rick McIver, they should have erected polling stations within the Indigenous community so that we would have a fair and equitable say on what is going to happen in the province of Alberta, because whatever happens with those plebiscites is going to affect our people just as much as mainstream Albertans," said North Peigan, who lays the blame on Kenney.
"If Jason Kenney was truly sincere about meaningful reconciliation with the Indigenous people in Alberta this would be a non-issue."
On Oct. 18, Albertans will voting on three province-wide ballots.
Referendum questions will be asked about federal equalization and adopting year round daylight saving time. As well, there will be a ballot to select Alberta senate nominees.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.