Indigenous communities voted disproportionately in referendum to remain in Canada

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

(ANNews) – Polling data from First Nations reserves and Metis settlements show that Indigenous people voted overwhelmingly and disproportionately in favour of Alberta remaining in Canada in the province’s Oct. 19 referendum. 

Ninety-seven per cent of voters at polling stations on or near reserves across Treaties 6, 7 and 8 voted against proceeding with a binding vote on Alberta independence, according to the dataset, which shows a total of 11,004 on-reserve votes for remain and 324 votes for a secession referendum. 

The sample size for the Metis settlements is smaller, but shows 976 votes for remain and 88 for an independence referendum, representing a 92 per cent victory for remain.  

Province-wide, remain received 75 per cent of more than two million votes cast, according to unofficial Elections Alberta results based on all but one poll reporting. 

Matthew Wildcat, the director of Indigenous governance at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies, compiled the data by going through Elections Alberta’s poll-by-poll breakdown, identifying stations in which the “vast majority” of voters would be Indigenous, given their proximity to reserves and settlements. 

He told Alberta Native News that it’s the closest proxy to determining how First Nations and Metis people voted on the independence question, since it’s impossible to know how many Indigenous voters voted by advance ballot or at off-reserve polling stations. 

“The main takeaway for me is that Indigenous Peoples have a consensus opinion on the question of Alberta separation,” said Wildcat.  

“I use the term ‘consensus’ very deliberately. I know it’s not 100 per cent, but I’m using it from the standpoint of what I would call Cree political traditions around consensus.”

In Cree political thought, Wildcat explained, consensus is not necessarily unanimous, but occurs when “an overwhelming viewpoint starts to emerge on something” and those who disagree “acquiesce to the larger group.” 

His data includes results from 60 polling stations across 35 First Nations, as well as seven polling stations across six Metis settlements. These polling stations were located in 14 rural ridings, many of which had relatively low votes in favour of remain.

He cautioned that the numbers aren’t yet exhaustive and that there could be polling stations that he missed, particularly on the two Metis settlements that aren’t included in the dataset. 

But when it comes to First Nations, not every band offered polling stations on reserve, given the history of First Nations members being forced to give up their status in order to vote. 

“Voting in Canadian elections has long been viewed with a great deal of suspicion,” said Wildcat. 

There were likely more than double the number of off-reserve Indigenous votes as on-reserve, he added.

Which Indigenous communities had the most voters? 

Siksika First Nation in Treaty 7 was the First Nation with the highest on-reserve turnout, with 1,482 votes cast, of which 99 per cent supported remain.

The Blood Tribe had the second-highest on-reserve turnout, with 1,303 votes cast, of which 99 per cent were in favour of remaining in Canada. 

The Blood Tribe and Siksika reserves are both part of the Cardston-Siksika riding, which overall saw just 56 per cent for remain, with 10,146 votes in favour and 7,734 votes against. 

Between the Blood Tribe and Siksika polling stations, there was a total 2,744 votes for remain. Without those remain votes, the independence side would have narrowly won in that riding. 

Little Red River Cree First Nation had the highest on-reserve turnout in Treaty 8 and third-highest overall, with 98 per cent of 1,077 votes cast in support of remain. 

Little Red River’s reserve is part of the Peace River riding, which saw an overall vote of 57 per cent for remain. 

In Treaty 6, Samson Cree Nation saw the highest turnout, with 717 votes cast. Of these votes, 98 per cent were in support of remain. 

Samson Cree’s reserve is located in the Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin riding, which saw 65 per cent support for remain. 

Gift Lake was the Metis settlement with the most votes counted, with 235 in favour of remain and five supporting independence, representing 98 per cent for remain.  

Gift Lake is located in the Lesser Slave Lake riding, which saw 70 per cent of voters support remain. 

The Metis settlement with the second-highest turnout was Kikino, located in the Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche riding. 

Eighty-seven per cent of the 199 votes at the Kikino Community Centre were cast in support of remaining in Canada, compared to 60 per cent of the riding’s total. 

Wildcat is skeptical that the scale of mobilizing Indigenous voters against the independence referendum can be replicated in future federal and provincial elections. 

“I suspect that it will be a blip, because motivating people was an enormous concern about Alberta potentially separating from Canada and how that would be inherently undermining of Indigenous peoples’ rights, political authority and political sovereignties,” he explained. 

Wildcat sees some hope in initiatives like Indigenous Rock the Vote, which could produce “a gradual increase of Indigenous peoples’ participation in elections.”

However, he cautioned that the first-past-the-post electoral system, in which each riding elects its own MLA or MP, makes the mobilization of Indigenous voters around a common political objective more challenging. 

“There’s probably not going to be a point at any time soon where First Nations people have the capacity to determine elections,” he said.