Critics of Red Pheasant band election frustrated with slow pace of appeal
Some members of the Red Pheasant First Nation say they are frustrated that efforts to overturn the results of the band’s last election appear to be bogged down in court.
After the March 2016 election, a band member filed an appeal with the federal court alleging that people running for chief and councillor positions engaged in “corrupt practices” such as vote buying, purchasing mail-in ballots, forging ballots and offering financial incentives to voters.
As lawyers involved in the months-long case talked on Tuesday, some band members travelled to Saskatoon and stood in front of the Queen’s Bench courthouse to send a message about the delays.
“Why? I don’t know why. Why is it dragging on? They should have a decision made by now,” band member Archie Nicotine said.
He’s concerned the band is spending more and more money on legal fees as the process drags on, he said.
“Meanwhile our reserve is in poverty. It’s just sad.”
Red Pheasant First Nation Chief Clint Wuttunee could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
According to court documents, band member Michelle Good alleges the Red Pheasant First Nation, located 150 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, has “suffered from the impacts of corruption in the electoral system” for decades.
Red Pheasant has the dubious distinction of being one of the first — if not the first — band in Canada to have someone criminally convicted for a vote-buying scheme. That happened in 2009, when exchief Charles Meechance pleaded guilty to fraud for buying votes in the band’s 2005 election. That election was overturned by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
In court documents, Good alleges the previous band council passed a resolution allowing for elections to be held every four years instead of every two. She alleges the band council did not adequately inform its members about the resolution and it “was not representative of the community’s wishes.”
She also accuses candidates running for chief and council positions of engaging in “corrupt practices” that are “likely to have affected the outcome of the election” and alleges that the electoral officer allowed people to put “large bundles of mail-in ballots that obviously did not belong to them” into ballot boxes.
The long delay in having her appeal resolved has left band members feeling “powerless and overpowered,” Good said.
“Band members are powerless. There’s no other opportunity to appeal an election except through the court, and so if the courts are going to take this long for them to resolve, then it’s of no use to the people who are allegedly suffering under an illegitimate government.”
Nicotine said while many of the band’s members support Good, few do so publicly because they are worried about repercussions.
He said he wants a new council to address a “housing crisis” on the reserve. No new houses have been built in years and many existing houses have black mould and are in disrepair, Nicotine said, adding said some families are worried about their children freezing this winter.