An antiquated system of voting in representatives
To the Expositor:
The current system of electing the ‘Grand Chief’ of the Anishinabek Nation has to change for as it stands, the current “leaders” were never voted in by the group they supposedly represent. They are voted in by the chiefs and not by the whole Anishinabek populations; this is the equivalent to the Ontario premier being voted in only by the mayors of cities and towns.
This antiquated system of voting our supposed representatives has to change. This system was set up in haste in 1969 to represent our concerns on Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jean Chretien’s white paper on Native policy. It has evolved to almost an old boy’s club, with excellent remuneration, tax free of course. I have seen them booed off the ice and not be recognized by the average Native—because we didn’t vote for you! They would like to see themselves as a third level of government, with education being taken over with a 25 percent majority vote. This only creates another level of bureaucracy to deal with.
This Ontario election will be the first computerized voting system being used. I can see the day when the Anishinabek Nation utilizes this system of electing our true leaders, as was our custom, when competent leaders would step up and be elected on their merits, not by dressing in phony regalia (Lakota war bonnets, not earned I might add) and by talking the talk the media and government bureaucrats like to hear.
Wayne Leblanc
Wiikwemkoong and Lively
