RCMP Lay Charge In Connection To MNS Election
Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at 13:35
A criminal charge has been laid related to last year’s disputed Metis Nation of Saskatchewan election.
The RCMP say an adult male from Saskatoon has been charged with one count of forgery in connection to last year’s vote.
His name will be released after he makes a court appearance in North Battleford on July 11th.
MNS president Dwayne Roth says he knows who has been charged. Roth also says the charge is in relation to activities at the Cando polling station in last year’s vote.
Roth says the Metis Elections Commission already threw out the results of the Cando polling station, so whatever happens, the results of last year’s vote still stand.
Meanwhile, one of Roth’s rivals in last year’s vote for MNS president, Robert Doucette, says this is a “banner day for Metis people in Saskatchewan”.
Doucette says the charge vindicates him and anyone else who dared to called last year’s election into question.
He’s predicting more charges will be announced in the weeks and months to come.
RCMP spokeswoman Heather Russell says there’s still a chance more charges could be laid, but it’s too soon to say if that will happen.
The province commissioned a study into last year’s controversial MNS election over allegations of ballot-box stuffing and other improprieties.
The final report from that study concluded that the results from the election couldn’t be trusted.