Native elections under review

The federal government is rethinking how elections should be handled on first nations reserves, the minister in charge said yesterday.Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said he has concerns given last year's decision by his department to allow the Shubenacadie First Nation in Nova Scotia to hire an electoral officer who was facing criminal charges at the time.MEMBERTOU, N.S. -- The federal government is rethinking how elections should be handled on first nations reserves, the minister in charge said yesterday.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said he has concerns given last year's decision by his department to allow the Shubenacadie First Nation in Nova Scotia to hire an electoral officer who was facing criminal charges at the time.

Last fall's election returned Chief Alex McDonald to office, but Mr. Prentice's department tossed out the results, ordering a new vote after reviewing a dozen appeals over missing ballots and other irregularities.

An investigation found that the band-appointed chief electoral officer, Jeanette Paul-Marr, did not accept mail-in ballots hand delivered on election day, which caused voter confusion and called the results into question.

"I had concerns with the situation from the onset when I was first appointed and I raised questions about the suitability of the electoral officer," Mr. Prentice said.

But Ottawa believed "any attempt to remove the electoral officer before the election" would likely result in a "wrongful-dismissal lawsuit" by Ms. Paul-Marr, he said, since she had been hired based on the previous band council's direction.

As a preventive measure, he ordered Indian Affairs staff to oversee the election and how ballots were handled. They assumed control of the election partway through the day.

Mr. Prentice said the whole governance of elections and appeals and the Indian Act need to be reviewed, given "limitations in the regulations."

The federal government is rethinking how elections should be handled on first nations reserves, the minister in charge said yesterday.Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said he has concerns given last year's decision by his department to allow the Shubenacadie First Nation in Nova Scotia to hire an electoral officer who was facing criminal charges at the time.

Source:The Globe and Mail