Liberal MP Mandy Gull-Masty says voting issues must be addressed in Nunavik

A newly elected Liberal MP says Elections Canada has to do a better job of making elections accessible to Indigenous voters living in remote northern ridings. Mandy Gull-Masty, who is a former grand chief of the Eeyou Istchee Cree Nation, defeated Bloc Québécois incumbent Sylvie Bérubé in a tight race in Monday’s federal election picking up just over 41 per cent of votes cast compared to Bérubé’s 34 per cent in the northern Quebec riding of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou. But there were reports of polls closing as early as 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon in Nunavik on election day. “This is Canada,” Gull-Masty said. “Everybody has the right to a free and equal participation in the electoral process. So, it was really unfortunate. I was disappointed to see what happened in Nunavik.” She said part of the problem is Elections Canada was only able to recruit about half the people needed to run polling stations in the area on election day and were forced to rely on workers who were flown in for the rest. These workers then flew out before the allotted time polls were supposed to remain open leaving polling stations understaffed, she said. Gull Masty said she received a number of messages on Facebook about the problem during voting Monday which she put into a compliance report submitted to Elections Canada. In a statement on the Elections Canada website, chief electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault apologized to the people of Nunavik and said the organization has been working hard over the last three years to remove barriers and improve voting services for Indigenous people. At the same time, he said gaps still exist and Elections Canada will be reviewing the circumstances that led to the situation and will publish its findings. Another new Liberal MP says Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba need economic development and newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney is the person to get the job done. “Carney’s focus is on the economy and I think this riding needs to be a centre piece of the Canadian strategy,” Rebecca Chartrand, who identifies as Anishinaabe, Ininew, Dakota, and Métis, said. “Because it has the Port of Churchill, the rail lines, critical minerals, potentially a second port. But these are things both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community want and I am not saying every community wants mining but there’s definitely some First Nations that want to participate and lead an Indigenous mining strategy.” Chartrand handily defeated long-time NDP incumbent Niki Ashton in the riding of Churchill–Keewatinook Aski garnering close to 46 per cent of the vote to Ashton’s just under 29 per cent. Ashton was first elected in the constituency in 2008 and then re-elected in four subsequent elections. Throughout the election campaign, Carney said he would like to move the evaluation process for energy projects, including oil and gas pipelines, more quickly while at the same time respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s commitment to free, prior and informed consent. A grassroots initiative of local people in northern Ontario took matters into their own hands as part of a drive to engage Indigenous people in the election campaign. “It was an election table discussion,” Nadine Roach of Indigenous Community Engagement said. “Recognizing the importance of our Indigenous and First Nation people involved in this particular election. We recognized it was going to be an important movement and that we wanted to do something about it.” The organization is based out of Sault Ste. Marie and aside from this city also targeted ridings in Sudbury, Kenora, Thunder Bay and Timmins that all have significant numbers of Indigenous people living within them. Some of the work they did included outreach to local First Nations and urban Indigenous people, education and a major event in Sault Ste. Marie on April 24 which featured Indigenous leaders and the candidates running in the riding of Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma. Continue Reading