Franchised, but disengaged

OTTAWA — Manitoba Dep­uty Premier Eric Robinson was lauded Friday night for his achievements as an  aboriginal politician.

His 17 years as a provincial MLA and 11 years as a cabinet minister earned him a nod from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.

Robinson is humble about the award but he is 100 per certain how his career in politics was made possible.

"My dad always said it was Diefenbaker that gave us the vote," said Robinson.

This Wednesday will mark the 50th anniversary of the day then-prime minister John Diefenbaker amended the Canada Elections Act to recognize First Nations Canadians as equals under the law. Before 1960, status Indians were only able to cast a ballot if they gave up their status and applied to be enfranchised. Only 250 had the vote.

Federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl plans a small reception on Parliament Hill March 31 to mark the day the amendments took effect.

"It was a pretty major event in its time," said Strahl. "It changed society's understanding of aboriginal people."

But across the country, it is unlikely the day will be celebrated with gusto.

A half-century later, enfranchisement has improved the political influence of Canada's aboriginal peoples but with low voter participation, significant under-representation in most governments and social conditions on reserves mimicking that of Third World nations, the impact of enfranchisement on Canadian First Nations is not huge.

"It didn't make much of a difference," says aboriginal historian Daniel Paul. "There was an expectation it might be something positive, but I don't think people were anticipating a big change. There was a huge mistrust of the system."

In a report for Elections Canada, University of Manitoba history professor Michael Kinnear looked at on-reserve voter turnout in Manitoba from enfranchisement to 2003 and found a disturbing trend of declining turnout. In the first federal election after enfranchisement, turnout on Manitoba reserves in 1962 was 65.4 per cent. It has never again been that high. It dropped to 61.7 per cent in the next federal election. By 2000, it was down to 45.7 per cent, nearly 16 points lower than turnout in Canada as a whole and more than 10 points lower than turnout in Manitoba overall.

In the provincial election in 2003, only slightly more than one in four voters on reserve cast a ballot.

In 2007, the overall voter turnout in the Manitoba provincial election was 56.75 per cent. In Robinson's riding of Rupertsland where 87 per cent of voters are aboriginal, turnout was around 33 per cent. On some reserves in Rupertsland, it was less than 10 per cent.

Lesley Jacobs, director of the Centre for Public Policy and Law at York University, said it's much more difficult to get a read on voter turnout rates for aboriginals living off-reserve. But he said "there is a suspicion they are much lower" than average.

Certainly, urban ridings with higher aboriginal populations generally have lower voter turnout. In the 2008 federal election, voter turnout in Manitoba was 57.76 per cent. In Winnipeg North and Winnipeg Centre, the two city ridings with the highest aboriginal populations, it was 43 per cent.

These results contrast sharply with band council elections where turnout is often above 90 per cent, said Jacobs.

Marcel Balfour, former chief of Norway House, concurred, estimating turnout in the Norway House band election March 17 was between 65 and 70 per cent.

"People can see what it means to vote for chief and council," said Balfour. They can't see that as easily when casting a ballot for a provincial or federal government, he says.

Having a local aboriginal candidate can make a big difference. In 2007, when Garden Hill Chief David Harper was running for the provincial Tories in Rupertsland, turnout on his reserve was 31 per cent and he received 86 per cent of the vote. Four years earlier, when Harper wasn't on the ballot, turnout was just 13.6 per cent.

But aboriginal candidates are rare, and aboriginal candidates who win even more so.

IN the last 50 years, Canada has elected just eight First Nations people to the House of Commons and appointed nine First Nations senators. Currently there is only one First Nations MP -- Conservative Rob Clarke from Saskatchewan -- and four senators. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq is Inuit and there are also three Métis, including Manitoba Conservatives Rod Bruinooge and Shelly Glover and Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Todd Russell. Métis and Inuit were not restricted from voting before 1960, but Kinnear said enfranchising status Indians likely had a significant impact on the political role of all aboriginal people in Canada.

In the Manitoba legislature, there are two First Nations MLAs -- Robinson and Frank Whitehead from The Pas.

Robinson said he may be the lone aboriginal voice at the Manitoba cabinet table but he said aboriginals have come so far it is no longer only aboriginal politicians speaking up for their issues.

"I don't have to be the only one to make the points anymore," he said. "It's been a struggle getting attention on these issues. Tuberculosis. Housing. Winter road failures. But I don't have to argue too much anymore. It's not like the days of old."

Robinson said there is a lot of work to do yet. He notes Manitoba has not yet elected an aboriginal woman to the provincial legislature.

Elections Canada has spent years trying to figure out the problem, engaging focus groups, research studies and numerous activities to get out more aboriginal voters. Elections materials have been made available in 11 aboriginal languages, the chief electoral officer partnered with aboriginal leaders to reach right into communities and the Assembly of First Nations since 2004 has had a resolution to raise awareness of the importance of voting.

Some studies point to higher turnout in band elections as evidence aboriginal people are engaged in politics but trust their aboriginal governments to represent them on the provincial and national level. Others acknowledge the historic hangover of colonialization and the knowledge that before 1960, voting in Canadian elections meant giving up one's aboriginal status.

"There is a question about what impact that continues to have," said Jacobs.

The high poverty rate, lower numbers of high school and college graduates and poor health conditions among aboriginal people also would be a factor. Voter turnout is low among all socially disadvantaged people, regardless of race.

The relative youth of First Nations people is certainly noteworthy as well. More than half of Canada's First Nations people are under the age of 25. Like the economically disadvantaged, young people across all races tend to be less engaged politically.

However, Jacobs says, the impact of enfranchisement has not been zero. It opened up a number of paths for political advocacy and made governments pay attention on a much larger scale to aboriginal issues.

"First Nation concerns are much more at the forefront of public policy than they were 50 year ago," he said.

There are specific examples when aboriginal people and aboriginal politicians had a substantive impact on the country's policies. The most notable example perhaps was Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper standing in the legislature with his eagle feather to reject the Meech Lake accord in 1990, which led to its demise.

The residential schools apology on the floor of the House of Commons in 2008 was also a distinct sign of aboriginal political clout. Parties regularly include aboriginal platforms in the campaigns, and visits to reserves, particularly in ridings with high aboriginal populations, are the norm.

The federal Conservatives have an aboriginal caucus.

First Nations are now consulted on virtually all avenues of development and public policy. It's not always to the extent they want, but it's rare they are excluded altogether.

Alan Ross remembers the Diefenbaker amendments and said although there is still much to be done on aboriginal issues in this country, it is a day worth stopping to remember.

"It's a big deal," he said. "It's had a tremendous impact. Aboriginals are more confident about their role in Canada."

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

TURNOUT RATES:

Polling stations on reserves, 2000 federal election

Canada 48 per cent

Prince Edward Island 66.9 per cent

Saskatchewan 55 per cent

Nunavut 54.3 per cent

Alberta 53.9 per cent

British Columbia 51.3 per cent

Northwest Territories 45.9 per cent

Ontario 44.5 per cent

Newfoundland/Labrador 43.7 per cent

New Brunswick 40.8 per cent

Nova Scotia 40.7 per cent

MANITOBA 36.6 per cent

Quebec 35.3 per cent

By per cent, at polling stations on reserves in Manitoba, federal elections

1962 65.4

1962 61.7

1965 56.1

1968 53.1

1972 54.3

1974 51.4

1979 50.4

1980 56

1984 45.5

1988 47.2

1993 39.7

1997 32.6

2000 45.7

Percentage turnout, polling stations on reserves in Manitoba, provincial elections

1969 53.5

1973 58.3

1977 49.5

1981 51.9

1986 43.8

1988 41.4

1990 42.1

1995 35.5

1999 35.6

2003 26.7

-- Elections Canada

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 27, 2010 A6