Aboriginal leaders offer reaction to election results

After five weeks of sound bites and political fights, the people have spoken, and what they've said is pretty much the same thing as they said in 2006: Stephen Harper and the Conservatives warrant no more than minority power in a federal government.
This leaves many pundits now asking the question: Was the 2008 election, held Oct. 14, worth the time and money it took to get the same government as Canada had before Harper broke his promise of a fixed election date and hurried to the polls? Of the many who kept their eyes focused on the election results were the Aboriginal peoples of Canada.
"There was no really big surprise other than the Liberals losing more seats than I thought they would," said the Métis National Council (MNC) President Clement Chartier. The Liberals lost 16 seats.
"It was fairly certain there would be a minority Conservative government, but, of course, they almost did make a majority."
In fact, there was a tight race on election night, and in some ridings, especially in the north, Aboriginal voters made up more than 10 per cent of the eligible votes, so it was thought that Native people had the golden ticket and could play kingmaker on a number of fronts.
For the election that no one but the Harper Conservatives seemed to want, a 58 per cent turn-out of mainstream voters registered as a new historic low.
Although no numbers have been released as to Aboriginal voter turnout, apathy towards the Canadian federal electoral process is also an historical fact.
And in places like Churchill, Man., where star Liberal candidate Tina Keeper, Native actor and incumbent, went down to defeat in one of those 10 per cent ridings, the golden ticket seemed not to be worth the paper it was printed on.
"I imagine most Natives don't vote in the federal or provincial elections," said Clarence Louie, chief of the Osoyoos nation in British Columbia, where the Conservatives made a lot of gains. 
"And that's too bad. But I guess that's the way it's been for a hundred years." He speculated that First Nations political involvement stays primarily at the community level.
"There's also the issue of sovereignty for some nations," said Beverly Jacobs, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC). This refers to the wampum belt philosophy of 'You paddle your canoe, and we'll paddle ours,' where First Nations refuse to take part in a foreign nation's election.
"There needs to be acknowledgement of that sovereign relationship," she said.
Stan Beardy, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), said his organization made an effort to inform the people of the party platforms and encouraged participation. However, he complained that the new rules around identification of voters may have been an obstacle for his community members. It was especially troubling for rural peoples, who in the past were simply vouched for by their local MP. What was needed was two pieces of identification, one with photo and both with the same address within the constituency.
"That created a problem for a lot of our people, because most people, they'll be here for a few months for whatever reason, mainly for medical, and in that short period of time they don't have sufficient documentation to show their ID picture plus the address. It's a real challenge for a lot of them," Beardy said. But what was in it for the Aboriginal voter to go the extra mile to vote? Not much according to some.
"I was very disappointed. There was insufficient focus on Aboriginal issues during the campaign," said Beardy.
"We had hoped that [the parties] would have more attention to our pressing issues; the issues facing our people."
And the result may continue to disappoint as the Conservatives head into a minimum two more years of minority rule as the Liberals reorganize after the resignation of their leader Stephane Dion. His poor performance during the campaign, weighed down by a thick French accent and an unpopular environmental platform, saw him shown the door by his party less than a week after the polls closed.
"We've been dealing with the minority Conservative government for the last two-and-a-half years," said Jacobs "and I can say that it was very frustrating as a leader for this organization that there were requests for various things and sometimes it didn't happen."
Regardless, it was a Conservative majority government that was what many individuals, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike, were hoping to avoid, with many Canadians still not able to trust a party that grew out of the right-wing Reform movement of the 1990s.
In Newfoundland that distrust was palpable, with Premier Danny Williams leading an "Anything but Conservative" campaign that successfully shut out the party on election night. Harper's reneging on promises to exclude offshore oil revenues from the equalization formula was at the heart of the initiative.
Not all Aboriginal people, however, viewed the Conservatives with suspicion. "I don't really have a problem with the Conservatives," said Chief Louie, who has become a bit of a Conservative darling for his no nonsense approach to getting his people off of welfare and back to work.
"My focus has been economic development; more economic development dollars in the Aboriginal programs, and they've come through on that in this last budget. I'm happy for that. Conservatives are supposed to be a business government and I'm all for business." Chartier also gave his approval of the outcome.
"They're in a position where they can still govern the country and move forward, but at a slower pace than they might have otherwise, particularly as it affects Aboriginal peoples. I'm fairly pleased with the outcome."
Chartier noted that the MNC has made progress with the Conservatives with a protocol agreement signed prior to the election that sets out a process of dialogue. He also expressed hope that Chuck Strahl would continue as minister of Indian and Northern Affairs. (Many Aboriginal leaders are concerned, however, about the government's lack of action post-residential school apology, delivered by the government on June 11.
"What is it they are going to do to implement their apology?" asked Jacobs. "There has to be at least some recognition that something has to be done, more than what is being done, you know with healing and wellness and language revitalization and promotion and protection."
There were also talks before the election by the prime minister that there would be a First Ministers meeting with national Aboriginal leaders, reminded Jacobs. She wondered if that is still on the agenda. During the election, the Assembly of First Nations sent out a letter to all of the five major party leaders requesting their platforms on Aboriginal issues. Four of the five parties sent back their responses, which can be viewed on the AFN Web site. It was the Conservatives that declined to respond to the questionnaire.
With the new old government now in place, there is a wait and see attitude on what the future will hold for Aboriginal people under this minority government. Many are worried that the global financial crisis that dominated the election dialogue will have a truly negative effect on first peoples. "I think that factor is going to be working against us. Regardless of which party is representing government, the recession may hit Canada," said Chartier.
And poor and marginalized peoples are always the first to be sacrificed when a country starts pinching its pennies.