Aboriginal activists working to rock the vote

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2015 (3316 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lorrie Steeves’ comments on Facebook two years ago complaining about drunk native guys have turned into a legacy I’m sure even she did not foresee.

First, her comments, made known in August at the start of her husband’s mayoral bid, started a conversation about racism and propelled Robert-Falcon Ouellette from relative obscurity to third-place finisher in the mayoral election.

Ouellette — with his traditional braid — became the face of the young, urban, educated aboriginal, and his respectable finish with almost 39,000 votes resulted in him being actively wooed to represent the Liberals in Winnipeg Centre in the 2015 federal election.

But Steeves also left another legacy. Her words fired up Jackie Traverse, an aboriginal artist, first to get angry and second to get organized to persuade aboriginal people in Winnipeg to vote. She along with Sylvia Boudreau created a Facebook account called Winnipeg Indigenous Rock the Vote, to get First Nations people active and involved in the municipal election. On the surface, it seemed to have worked, with voter turnout in economically depressed areas in Winnipeg’s inner city and North End showing moderate increases in voter turnout in the last civic election. Getting the word out, combined with the city providing more opportunities for advanced voting and setting up voting stations in shopping malls and universities, pushed up voter turnout overall to 50.2 per cent.

Now, Traverse has an even bigger fight on her hands — getting aboriginals ready to vote in the federal election. A new Facebook group has been organized by Traverse and Lisa Forbes, an inner-city worker, called Winnipeg Indigenous Rock the Vote in the 42nd Federal Election. Its intention is to be used as a spot for information about voting and ongoing election issues — “a modern-day smoke signal,” as Traverse puts it.

While it’s hard to track how many aboriginal people vote in elections in Canada, there are concerns the rate of electoral participation is low. Moreover, there are many federal ridings in which First Nations people make up a significant percentage of the overall population.

Traverse and Forbes are further motivated by the implementation of the so-called Fair Elections Act, which has put in place stringent rules for identification that potentially will disenfranchise many already marginalized groups, including First Nations people. The new act requires voters to have government identification with a photo and current address or two pieces of ID, such as a health card and a phone bill or a debit card and a bank statement. Still difficult to get for people living in the inner city. Gone are the voter-identification cards and gone is the ability for people to vote through vouching.

As Forbes outlines, on many reserves, individuals do not have specific addresses. Now, they will need to obtain a letter from the band council verifying their address. In years past, the band chief could vouch for voters who arrived at polling stations. That is also no longer possible, with the chief only being allowed to vouch for one person.

For First Nations people and those on low income living in Winnipeg, a government identification with an address often is difficult to obtain, particularly because they often are quite transient and may not have a permanent address. They also are unlikely to have a driver’s licence. As Forbes says, many “just don’t know where to start” when it comes to getting identification: “It takes money and it takes time, and the bureaucratic system is hard to navigate.”

Both Traverse and Forbes see this as an example of American-style Jim Crow policies, a throwback to a system that in the United States prevented blacks from voting by placing inordinately tough requirements on them to vote. In Canada, many critics of this new act have suggested the identification requirements will suppress the vote. The Council of Canadians points to the fact in the last federal election, 100,000 people were allowed to vote because someone vouched for their eligibility and another 400,000 relied on the voter-ID card. It’s not clear how many of these votes will be lost because of the changes to the election act.

To combat these new laws, Forbes and Traverse are in the process of putting together a series of features on their Facebook site, including videos by high-profile aboriginal people talking about the importance of voting and more importantly how to get the necessary identification that allows them to vote. There will also be ID clinics in the inner city that will help folks navigate the system. In addition, they’ve planned rallies at university and indigenous events to encourage aboriginal people to vote and to inform them of the voting process.

Meanwhile, the Council of Canadians is seeking an injunction against the implementation of the new identification rules. According to executive director Garry Neil, the Superior Court of Ontario will be hearing their case for an injunction July 2 and 3 in Toronto.

The council makes the argument the new act is unconstitutional and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in two ways. It violates a person’s right to vote and it violates the right to equal treatment. Neil says there will be tens of thousands of voters affected by this new law and it clearly suppresses the vote for those who are marginalized, homeless or indigenous.

Then why do it?

According to Neil, those most affected by the law are also those most likely to not vote for the Conservatives.

Forbes and Traverse will be watching the proceedings in Toronto in July and meanwhile will continue to educate aboriginals about the importance of voting and working hard to ameliorate the erosion of their rights.

It’s only been 55 years since First Nations people got the right to vote federally in Canada.

Forbes and Traverse are working hard to keep that franchise.

Shannon Sampert is the perspectives and politics editor at the Free Press.

shannon.sampert@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulySigh