For Indigenous voters, this one was supposed to be different

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/09/2021 (1452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canadian political parties may not be interested in talking about Indigenous peoples this federal election campaign, but Indigenous people are sure interested in talking about them.

The 2021 campaign was supposed to be different — especially after a summer where unmarked graves of First Nations children were found at former residential schools, “Cancel Canada Day” resulted in the toppling of statues and names of racist past figures, and the COVID-19 pandemic made clear poverty in Indigenous communities could result in Canadians paying the price for historic, systemic racism.

It was supposed to be the election to talk about Tory Leader Erin O’Toole’s flagrant ignorance surrounding Indigenous rights, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s promise to “honour Canada’s nation-to-nation relationship” with Indigenous communities, and whether NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh could truly address systemic racism.

It was supposed to be the election where reconciliation was actually talked about, with a record 77 Indigenous candidates running for federal office.

Instead, party heads ignored the issues while accusing one another of treating Indigenous communities worse, with Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet far more worried about Quebec’s reputation than the highly publicized in-hospital death of Indigenous woman Joyce Echaquan.

Yet, Indigenous people are, remarkably, still encouraging one another to cast a ballot

All this week, community leaders across the country have encouraged their citizens — through announcements, news releases and via numerous “Rock the Indigenous Vote” sites on social media platforms — to vote Sept. 20.

In Manitoba, all three of the province’s grand chiefs and the Assembly of First Nations regional chief are on-board with a “I am First Nations and I Vote” campaign.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee and Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas vow to work with whichever federal party is victorious Monday, but have publicly endorsed Liberal candidate (and Cree woman) Shirley Robinson in Manitoba’s northern Churchill—Keewatinook Aski riding.

This is like saying you support everyone and only one party at the same time. It is however also an example that shows how Indigenous people are motivated to vote by relationship instead of platform or party alliance.

The AFN has long-encouraged First Nations citizens to vote collectively, almost in a rebuke of party politics. Its officials released data showing — if voting in a block — 24 federal ridings could be determined primarily by Indigenous voters.

Churchill—Keewatinook Aski is top of that list, with 63 per cent of electors in the area First Nations, followed by Desnethé—Missinippi-—Churchill River in Saskatchewan (49 per cent) and Kenora in Ontario (29 per cent).

The increase in support for Indigenous voter participation and calls for strategic voting comes from a severe lack of representation in Parliament. The largest number of Indigenous MPs was 10, elected in 2019; that’s less than three per cent of MPs.

If First Nations people did vote as a block and for their own interests, it would likely be for the NDP. There is near-universal agreement its platform is the most progressive for First Nations.

The Liberals are in many ways the party that best represents Métis interests. Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand is a huge Trudeau backer.

This is not to forget the Conservatives, who have made more Indigenous-related promises in their platform (a whopping 14 pages) than at any time in history.

Meantime, there is hope to bounce back from the 11 per cent drop in First Nations voter participation in 2019 from the record 61.5 per cent turnout in 2015. (Métis votes are harder to track and Inuit participation barely breaks 20 per cent.)

In Manitoba, on-reserve voting was 57.5 per cent in 2015, dropping to 40.6 per cent in 2019.

The simple difference between the two elections was one name: Stephen Harper. The majority of Indigenous people wanted the Tory prime minister out of office and were willing to cast a ballot to do it.

Turns out Indigenous people, like non-Indigenous Canadians, would rather vote against than for someone.

That much, we share.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca

Niigaan Sinclair
Columnist

Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe and is a columnist at the Winnipeg Free Press.

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