All candidates have been reinstated
M’CHIGEENG—The M’Chigeeng First Nation election scheduled for March 27 was rescheduled following the disqualification of one of the candidates for chief and most of the candidates for council.
Candidates for council were outraged when 18 were told they had been disqualified, leaving just 13 candidates vying for 10 seats. The news came just hours before the advance poll opened and well after an all-candidates meeting where many of the candidates for office had delivered their platforms.
At issue, in most if not all cases, were the deadlines that candidates had received regarding the submission of criminal record checks (CRC) and their resulting failure to comply with the CRC requirements found in the M’Chigeeng First Nation Custom Election Code 2019.
Due to the late decision, the names of all of the disqualified candidates remained on the ballot and a number of mail-in ballots had already been received.
A large group of candidates and their supporters (including one who had not been disqualified) gathered at a peaceful protest outside the M’Chigeeng Community Complex where the advance poll was taking place on March 23. A sacred fire, eagle staff and drum were the focal point for the protesters.
As more and more evidence came to light regarding the inconsistency of the messaging the candidates had received from official sources and the vague wording of the custom election code, a meeting of the M’Chigeeng First Nation Election Appeals Committee (EAC) and its legal council was held on the morning of Thursday, March 23.
The committee discussed the grievances that it, and the band administration, had received following the disqualification of the candidates. In a letter released by the EAC it was noted that the committee “found this section of the code to be very confusing and was causing a lot of confusion among the candidates who had been nominated and other members of the community.”
The letter also revealed that some members of the EAC had been threatened following the decision to disqualify candidates. After deliberation and discussion, the EAC announced a series of decisions, first and foremost of which was to cancel the March 27 election—setting a new election date of Saturday, May 13, 9 am to 6 pm at the M’Chigeeng Community Complex.
A new advance poll will take place on Saturday, April 22 from 9 am to 6 pm at the M’Chigeeng Community Complex and new mail-in ballots will be sent to off-reserve voters.
The disqualified candidates (who had all apparently submitted their CRCs) were reinstated and no longer disqualified but must submit CRCs by April 8 and must include up to February 13, the date of the nomination meeting. Any CRC that is dated prior to February 13 will not be accepted.
The ballots cast at the advance poll are declared invalid and will not be counted, as will those mail-in ballots that had been received as of March 23.
As part of the decision, chief and council terms of office have been extended to Saturday, May 13.
The EAC intends to meet weekly with the electoral officer and deputy electoral officer from April 6 to April 27 in order to ensure a smooth election takes place.
In their final decision from the March 23 meeting, the EAC “strongly recommends the new council amend the custom election code to make it clearer to interpret and thanked the community for their patience and understanding during this difficult time.”
Candidates expressed relief following the decisions of the EAC and conveyed a desire to move forward.
