Northern reserve tripled voter turnout

SASKATOON — Social media, a local candidate and a first-time on-reserve polling station are being credited with a tripling of voters at the Big River First Nation in northern Saskatchewan.

On Monday, 626 people cast ballots at the First Nation, membership clerk Hubert Whitefish said.

“It’s the most turnout we’ve ever had in a federal election.”

In 2011, 200 members of the First Nation voted at a poll in Debden, about 19 kilometres away, he said.

“It was inconvenient for them to go vote.”

Big River Chief Bruce Morin said the unprecedented involvement was good for the community.

Much of the interest was sparked by local Liberal candidate Lawrence Joseph. Although he now lives in Prince Albert, the former chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations is well known in Big River and was a regular presence at community events, Morin said.

“He kind of spread the message himself by being a candidate and talking to people and people seeing the importance of getting out and voting for somebody.”

That local voice engaged many in the community who felt ignored by other candidates in this and previous elections, and by MPs who never visited the reserve, he said.

Morin said he was pleased to see a new interest among the youngest voters, 18- to 20-year-olds, who were “really involved” and who were among the approximately 150 supporters who gathered in the school gym to watch the election results.

“We stayed there until about one o’clock in the morning, right to the last poll coming in. They were really slow, eh? They were just going back and forth. It was a nail biter,” Morin said.

Joseph lost by just 70 votes to NDP candidate Georgina Jolibois.

“It was a disappointing evening for us, but it was also very exciting. There was a lot of young people there at the campaign headquarters as the results were coming in. They saw firsthand what it was, getting involved in the federal election. It was pretty exciting for them and it was good to see. A lot of our elders were there, too. It was exciting right down to the wire,” Morin said.

“Next time I anticipate a bigger turnout.”

Morin said social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, introduced many young people to the issues and the federal political process.

“They heard among friends or however that it was important to vote, and I think that’s what it was, more than anything else. They were talking about it long before this really got started. I know Lawrence was at events, talking about the federal election. Among the young people I think it was just social media.”

He observed that many young people went their own way and supported Jolibois.

“That’s democracy,” he said.