First Nations urged to ‘hold nose’ and vote
MONTREAL — Canada’s First Nations have long viewed federal and provincial elections as the business of others. In the 2011 federal election, on-reserve turnout rates were below 50 per cent in every province.
But as the Assembly of First Nations opened its annual general assembly in Montreal Tuesday, the message was that after nearly a decade of Conservative government, desperate times require desperate measures.
National Chief Perry Bellegarde told delegates that AFN’s riding-by-riding analysis identified 51 ridings where aboriginal voters could tip the balance if they showed up at the polls.
“Fifty-one ridings can make a difference between a majority and a minority government. People are starting to see that,” he said in his opening speech. “Show that our people count. Show that our people matter. Show that we can make a difference and show that our issues will not be put to the side.”
Bellegarde was careful not to explicitly pick sides, but other speakers made it clear that the collective aim is to defeat Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.
“These are very exceptional times,” Ghislain Picard, the AFN’s regional chief for Quebec said outside the meeting. “We’ve had nine years of a Tory government that has done nothing positive for our people.”
Grand Chief Pat Madabhee of Ontario’s Anishinabek Nation began his address to a session on getting out the aboriginal vote by joking, “I’ll keep this very brief. We’ve got to get rid of these Conservatives. Thank you.
“We need to mobilize the vote. Hold our nose,” he said. “This is our land. Our land is being raped and pillaged by this prime minister going around all over the world, getting into trade deals and selling off the resources of our lands. Who’s benefiting from it? Not the First Nations.”