Should We Change How We Vote? by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MQUP
Published: 2017-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

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Indigenous Representation, Self-Determination, and Electoral Reform

Melissa S. Williams

I. The Importance of Indigenous Representation in the Electoral Reform Agenda

Canada is at a crossroads in coming to terms with its long history of colonial domination, as reflected both in the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, concluded in 2015,1 and in the current government’s own express commitment to “reset” Canada’s relationship with Indigenous people. In the words of Prime Minister Trudeau, “It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples, one that understands that the constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations in Canada are not an inconvenience but rather a sacred obligation.” 2 Reform of the electoral system is a major change to the political order, and it will inevitably affect the ways in which Indigenous interests are (or are not) represented in the electoral and legislative process. Canada cannot undertake such a change while also honouring its commitment to renewing its relationship with Indigenous people unless electoral reform actively engages Indigenous publics and solicits their support.

Indigenous people have been chronically underrepresented in Canada’s parliamentary system. Until the 2015 federal elections, there had been only thirty-four Indigenous members of Parliament in the entire history of Canada since Confederation, and only fifteen Indigenous senators.3 Following the unprecedented mobilization of Indigenous voters by Idle No More’s “Rock the Vote” campaign, together with Assembly of First Nations chief Perry Bellegarde’s pleas for Indigenous people to vote,4 voter turnout in the last election reached a record high. Whereas the turnout on reserves had been 47.4 per cent of eligible voters in the 2011 election, it reached 61.5 per cent in 2015. Although this rate of participation was still lower than overall voter turnout in 2015 (68.3 per cent), it came closer than ever before.5 The result was a striking increase in the number of Indigenous MPs, for a total of ten.6 This may be close to the upper limit of what is achievable under the existing single-member plurality (SMP) electoral system, and yet it still constitutes less than 3 per cent of the total number of MPs, whereas Indigenous people comprise at least 4.3 per cent of the population.7

The underrepresentation of Indigenous people in Parliament is of particular concern because of the unique position of Indigenous peoples within Canada’s legal order, combined with the long history of colonial domination and ongoing patterns of deep inequality. Aboriginal people are the only group that is governed according to laws different from those governing the rest of the population, beginning with the deeply problematic and colonial Indian Act. Although living under separate orders of law would be consistent with a decolonized “nation-to-nation” relationship, in which Indigenous people governed themselves in accordance with their own legal traditions, we are far from achieving that aspiration.

As matters stand, the federal government exercises jurisdiction over Indigenous people in policy domains that are within provincial jurisdiction for non-Indigenous Canadians, including such fundamental matters as education, health, child welfare, housing, and water. The federal government’s enduring failure to provide basic social

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