ManitobaVince Tacan, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation’s former chief, says the recent election in the southwestern Manitoba First Nation is invalid, claiming ballot boxes were compromised. He says he’ll challenge the results in court.Sioux Valley maintains election was fair, says Vince Tacan can’t serve as chief due to criminal chargesListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Vote counting was paused in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation on its Nov. 13 election night, when the electoral officer walked out, saying he felt threatened and counting was interrupted by community members. After counting resumed the next day, Jennifer Bone was declared the winner of the vote for chief. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)Recent election results in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation are being disputed by the former chief, who says ballot counting didn’t follow proper protocols and the votes are invalid.Vince Tacan says he will challenge the results of last week’s vote in court, arguing ballot boxes were compromised and the election failed to account for all eligible voters in the southwestern Manitoba community.”People’s rights were infringed upon … especially those off-reserve,” Tacan said in a Friday interview.”I think we need to have an election, or resume … the voting part of it, because the voting aspect has been compromised.”Vote counting was paused on election night when the electoral officer walked out, saying he felt threatened and counting was interrupted by community members. Counting began again the following day, streamed live on Sioux Valley’s YouTube channel, after elders appointed a replacement electoral officer.When the count was complete, Jennifer Bone was declared the winner of the election for chief, according to a statement on the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation governance site, which said Bone won 371 votes to Tacan’s 212. Jon Bell, Darryl Hapa, Melissa Hotain, Billy McKay and Randall Wasicuna were elected to council.Former Sioux Valley Dakota Nation chief Vince Tacan says the community’s recent election is not valid. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)RCMP confirmed to CBC police were called on the Nov. 13 election day, but said the threats were unverified and no arrests have been made despite an ongoing investigation.CBC requested an interview with Bone, who referred to a statement on Sioux Valley Dakota Nation’s website, dated Nov. 19, saying newly elected leadership has taken over administration. It says the election was properly overseen by an appointed officer and affirmed by an election oversight body.Any challenges must go through the community’s formal appeals process, according to the statement.Criminal chargesA subsequent statement posted Friday on the Sioux Valley website site said under its constitution, Tacan is no longer eligible to serve as chief because he is facing criminal charges.Tacan was arrested and charged on Nov. 5 with a historical sexual assault, in connection with a report of an assault that took place in a western Manitoba community in 1984.The criminal charge “constitutes an immediate breach of the eligibility criteria required to hold the office of chief,” according to the statement, citing a section of the Sioux Valley Dakota Oyate Constitution that says the elected chief must have “no criminal record or pending charges of a criminal nature.”Tacan has denied the allegations and has claimed the case is politically motivated.This past week, Tacan created a blog with a letter attributed to chief and council, signed by Tacan and three of five councillors who were in place prior to the vote, that called for a new election.Of the three councillors who signed the letter, one retained their position following the vote. One was defeated and the third didn’t run.Tacan said he started the new blog — with the website address svdngov.com — to share information, saying the Sioux Valley governance site, with the address svdngovernance.com, was spreading “misinformation.”Tacan said he and his council remain the lawful chief and council, insisting the election is invalid. A Nov. 19 post on Sioux Valley’s official administration website refers to “a fraudulent website that is falsely representing itself as an official source for our Nation,” and said administration is “addressing the issue.”The First Nation’s Friday statement said Sioux Valley is a self-governing nation with its own constitution, laws and electoral system, and maintained last week’s vote followed its constitutional processes.But Tacan argues Sioux Valley Dakota Nation can’t be considered self-governing yet, “because we haven’t passed any laws yet to address these type of issues.””To be fair to Sioux Valley, we have been under over 150 years of a system that creates dependency, and all of a sudden we’re expected to be perfect and be fully self-governing,” Tacan said. “My feeling is we can’t be self-governing at the flick of a switch just because we signed an agreement.”Tacan said the community is divided and wants a fair election, and added he believes Indigenous Services Canada will want certainty about who leads the community.Indigenous Services Canada told CBC it does not run elections under Sioux Valley’s custom electoral code and has no role in settling disputes, other than recording results provided by the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. That means any leadership issues must be resolved by the community or the courts.CBC requested interviews with Burke Ratté, the election officer who halted the Nov. 13 vote counting, but he was unavailable.ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michele McDougall is a news reporter at CBC Manitoba based in Brandon. She previously worked at the Brandon Sun covering health stories in Western Manitoba.
Election results invalid, says ousted Sioux Valley Dakota Nation chief
