Métis card can be used for voter registration: Elections Canada

By: Kristin Annable Posted: 10:56 AM CDT Friday, Aug. 7, 2015

Métis people across the country will be able to use their citizenship cards as identification, Elections Canada has confirmed.

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Métis people across the country will be able to use their citizenship cards as identification, Elections Canada has confirmed.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/08/2015 (3744 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Métis people across the country will be able to use their citizenship cards as identification, Elections Canada has confirmed.

Recent changes to the Canada Elections Act has made this an issue of contention for the Manitoba Metis Foundation, the foundation’s president David Chartrand said on Friday.

“That is why we moved on this issue, it caused me concern because what if my people were coming out to vote and failed to have enough information to protect their democracy or their right to vote,” he said.

Melissa Tait / Winnipeg Free Press
MMF president David Chartrand says a map of available Crown land is the first step. — Melissa Tait / Winnipeg Free Press MMF president David Chartrand says a map of available Crown land is the first step.

The adoption of Bill C-23 last year ushered in changes which require voters to prove their identity with government identification that includes a photo and current address or two pieces of ID, such as a health-care card and a phone bill or a debit card and a bank statement. In the past, federal laws allowed for voter ID cards and for vouching.

He called the decision by Elections Canada to accept the ID as “long overdue.”

“If Elections Canada would’ve denied the right of our citizenship, we are talking with lawyers,” he said. “If would have had an effect, we know from our senior citizens and we do our from our own experiences in the Federation…we find a lot of people do not have picture ID, I’m talking a very high portion of our citizens.”

The seven regional offices of the MMF are prepared to go into election mode, he said.

Federal New Democrat leader Thomas Mulcair has already committed to attending their annual assembly in September.

“So we are going to put a lot of emphasis on the election,” Chartrand said. “We want to make sure we get our people out to the polling stations.”

For complete information on how to register, where to vote and advance voting polls, citizens are encouraged to visit Elections Canada website at www.elections.ca.

Kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca