TORONTO - Ontario's 100,000 eligible aboriginal voters living on reserves have the power to cast decisive ballots in at least 10 swing ridings in the federal election, says the leader of a prominent aboriginal organization.
With voter turnout on the province's reserves usually around 25 per cent, the Union of Ontario Indians is encouraging aboriginals to understand how each party's platform affects them and make an informed decision on Oct. 14, said Grand Council Chief John Beaucage.
"One of the things we're trying to give, in terms of information, is that we should be out there voting in greater blocks and that we should have a strategic vote amongst our people," said Beaucage, whose group is the political voice for 42 members of the Anishinabek First Nations.
In the 2006 federal election, several ridings with a significant number of native voters were tight races, he added.
In Parry Sound-Muskoka, Health Minister Tony Clement won by only 28 votes.
"If our people understood the issues to a greater extent, understood why we have to have numbers out when it comes to federal and provincial elections, I think it would make a bit of difference," said Beaucage.
In Ontario, the ridings with the highest percentage of aboriginals among eligible voters are Kenora and Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, with 25 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
Nationally, the number of eligible First Nations voters was larger than the margin of victory in 22 ridings in 2006.
If aboriginal turn-out approached the numbers of other segments of the population it could impact on specific ridings, said Michael Behiels, research chair for Canadian federalism and Constitutional studies at the University of Ottawa.
"The chiefs in northern Ontario have done their mathematics and they do see there's a possibility of having some input and having the candidates listen to them and promote their interests," Behiels said.
In the past, population numbers and the make-up of some federal ridings had rendered many First Nations votes meaningless when determining outcomes, he added.
"That's been the problem of the aboriginal vote, because for a long time the riding make-up cut them or they weren't of any sufficient numbers to have any major sway in the outcome," said Behiels.
Prior to 1960, aboriginals were forced to renounce their First Nations status to vote.
"The vote was often used as a way to integrate and then eventually assimilate (First Nations) into Canadian society, so they had a very negative perception of democracy and the voting process," said Behiels.
"It's been a kind of black hole of Canadian democracy."
For the 2008 election, the Anishinabek Nation released a list of demands outlining the commitments it's seeking from candidates, including the elimination of poverty through the union's economic blueprint.
Other demands include the enhancement of education and training opportunities for youth, a renewed focus on treaty implementation, the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and a commitment to the protection and proliferation of First Nations languages.
The union will not be telling aboriginal voters who to choose on election day, but it will present each party's platform as it relates to First Nations issues, said Beaucage.
"We think that once the issues are out there, once the questions are provided to the candidates, that it will become self-evident to the people which way to vote," he added.
The union has sent out a questionnaire to every candidate of the major political parties asking their stance a variety of aboriginal issues. The answers will be posted on the website www.firstpeoplesvote.com.
