Indigenous voters treated unfairly
In remote regions, voting is still inaccessible, Orlagh O'Kelly says.
Holding an election during a pandemic is unfair to Canadians in remote communities. With Canada entering the fourth wave of COVID-19 thanks to the Delta variant and vaccinations plateauing, this election will not only be risky, but will diminish the voices of those who do not have the luxury of voting in person.
At issue is voting by mail with special ballots (i.e., mailin ballots). Voters in Canada can request their mail-in ballots only after an election is called. If the U.S. election is any indication, demand for mail-in ballots will be high. Indeed, a May 2021 Elections Canada survey found that 29.5 per cent of voters intended to vote by mail.
Demand could be especially high for those living in remote communities. This is precisely where it could be difficult to vote by mail. Small communities in the territories, for example, only receive mail two or three days a week. Add to this the pandemic postal delays, and the end result is that 36 days may not be long enough to request, receive and send a mail-in ballot for many who live in remote parts of Canada. Effectively, it would be the disenfranchisement of eligible voters.
It didn't have to be this way. The last Parliament could have passed a legislative amendment to address the foreseeable mail-in ballot problem, but the government did not propose it. The Canada Elections Act still requires that ballots be received in the National Capital Region by 6 p.m. on the polling day (or somewhere else designated by the chief electoral officer). Compounding this issue is the prohibition of in-person voting for those who requested a special ballot. Meaning, if there are mail delays, you cannot change your intention back to voting in person.
Another problem will be the polling stations, notably in Indigenous communities. Not all reserves had a polling station in 2019. If on-reserve Indigenous voters can't easily get to the polls, they will have unequal access to voting. The location of polling stations, especially during a pandemic, has been known to have discriminatory impacts. Lack of safe and easy access to polling stations has created barriers for racialized groups. Combining the absence of polling stations with a fourth wave could easily have the same discriminatory effects in Canada.
Indigenous disenfranchisement will only be exacerbated by the government's puzzling refusal to add Indigenous languages to the ballot and in apparent breach of their own legislation. Linguistic barriers will be worse if voters are required to travel to vote and/or vote by mail, without poll workers who can interpret in their native tongue.
The government should have known better. To avoid pandemic elections on reserves, cabinet quietly passed regulations in April 2020 allowing chiefs and councils to extend their own terms in office and cancel/ postpone pandemic elections. The Federal Court struck down a portion of the regulations, stating in part that this power had “illegally deprived of the opportunity to vote for the selection of their leaders.” In July, Parliament then passed a provision in the budget bill that simply declared the regulations retroactively valid.
The rationale for the regulations was explained by Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller on April 8: “The government continues to recognize the health risks of holding elections during the COVID -19 pandemic, especially in at-risk, underserved Indigenous communities, and particularly as parts of the country contend with a third wave of COVID -19 and highly contagious variants.”
The double-standard for Indigenous elections is alive and well. These same health risks apparently do not justify legislative intervention when it comes to the federal election. And without legislative guidance, Elections Canada is on its own. Let's hope it is ready to facilitate enfranchisement, from coast to coast to coast, and quickly.
Indigenous communities may have to resort to litigation to ensure that their votes count. While Canadian courts would likely side with them, it is unacceptable that we should have to go that route. If we insist on having an election during a pandemic, the least we can do is make sure it is fair.