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Election Day has a quick attitude around the country, but for some Aboriginal, Metis and Inuit voters, the choice of election or not to vote can be as challenging as deciding who to vote.
The Aboriginal Congress has been launched #ourlandourvote Sports, It is a resource hub that helps Indigenous, Metis and Inuit voters make informed choices.
For indigenous peoples, the right to vote was not granted until 1960. Each of their elections is an important, sometimes an important milestone in the struggle for equality and representation
“The history of Indigenous relations in the electoral system is not great. Today, many voters take the right to vote for granted, but this right is not always available throughout Canada’s history. Indigenous people only received the right to vote in this country in 1960. In their competition for their equality and representation, it is sometimes an important, sometimes a competitive, sometimes a unified ruler, which is a unified rule.
Before 1960, indigenous peoples had to give up their status to vote, forcing them to sacrifice their cultural identity to participate in the election process.
Yesno added: “I think this historical trauma is really not spreading like we often do. We are just told that voting is a good thing, it is an important thing, it is something we should do.”
Other voting barriers include a lack of housing, which means no fixed address or lack of transportation at the polling station.
“I know, just in 2015, there were a lot of Indigenous Thousand Miles and Remote communities not sending enough votes,” Yesno said. “So, I think there was a lot of frustration and tension in the messaging sent to Indigenous peoples.”
But Yesno said that for others, they recognize that this is the system we live in, that voting is a tool that people can use to hear voices, raises important questions for them, and protects land and other rights.
In the last election, the turnout for Indigenous voters fell. From 2019 to 2021, the votes for reserve voters fell by 7.3%, the votes for Inuit fell by 11.6%, and at the Metis settlement, the votes fell by 4.5%.
But that’s not far from Canada’s overall voter turnout, down 4.4% in the past two elections.
Some Indigenous voters Citynews talked to them that they were eager to participate in the polls.
“Ticking the box is the first step to being involved in and participating in conversations and sharing our voices and opinions and heard in equality rather than counseling or victims,” said voter Elle Besick.
“Whether you are in the room or not, you make a decision. So it’s my personal opinion, and my experience is to have better information in the room and be able to make informed decisions and provide information and start moving forward everything,” Besick said.
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