Metis Election Figures Questioned

Metis Election Figures Questioned

Saturday, June 12, 2004 at 16:47

 

 

Some recent Metis Nation of Saskatchewan election results are being disputed by Metis leaders in Prince Albert.

 

Results from last month’s official vote show that 142 people voted in the community of Denholm.

 

Figures supplied by the Metis Election Commission show that 125 Metis people in Denholm voted in favour of Dwayne Roth, 11 voted for Robert Doucette and 6 chose Alex Maurice.

 

However, according to the bureau of statistics for the province, only 75 people actually live in Denholm and only 10 of those are of Aboriginal ancestry.

 

Meantime, MNS voting results in the community of Maymont show that 193 ballots were taken in, despite the fact only 165 people are credited with living there.

 

Just ten of those people are identified as Aboriginal.

 

The voting breakdown for that community in the recent Metis election has Roth receiving 179 votes, while Doucette and Maurice received 7 votes apiece.

 

The new MNS area director for the Prince Albert region, Barry Robertson, says it’s clear the entire system needs to be overhauled.

 

He wonders why the MNS doesn’t ask an independent party to run the election.

 

On Thursday, Doucette was officially declared the new president of the MNS, only to be removed hours later by the commission running the election.

 

The commission stated the move was made because missing votes had been discovered in the North Battleford region, giving Roth the win.