Polling hours for voters to cast ballots in Quebec’s Nunavik region during Monday’s federal election were inconsistent across many communities and in some cases, not open at all, CTV News has learned.
Tiivi Tulaugak was keen to vote in his first federal election. But his excitement was quickly dashed when he went to the polling station in his northern Quebec community of Ivujivik, only to find it was closed.
“I was frustrated. I was sad,” he told CTV News. “Everybody was unable to vote in Ivujivik.”
Tulaugak, who is still in high school, said he went to the polling station on the morning of Election Day on April 28. He said there seemed to be a lot of confusion when he arrived.
“I was waiting and asking when we were able to vote, and the people there kept saying, ‘I don’t know,’” he said.
“I kept asking, but they didn’t have a response.”
Tulaugak waited at the polling station until 3:30 p.m. That’s when he heard from the town’s mayor that the election workers had allegedly arrived in Ivujivik but quickly left without any votes being cast.
“This is not right,” he said. “They took our votes away and this is illegal.”
‘Our region cannot continue to feel like an afterthought’
Kativik Regional Government’s chairperson Hilda Snowball confirmed in a statement to CTV News that many residents in the surrounding Nunavik region were unable to vote.
“I was shocked and unsettled about the news regarding the early closing of polling stations,” part of the statement reads. “I was outraged to hear that some were not open at all. This only highlights recurring challenges that we’ve communicated with our governmental partners”
Snowball says she will be communicating with Elections Canada to come up with solutions to make sure this does not happen again.
The Makivik Corporation, the organization representing Inuit in Nunavik, is calling for Elections Canada to investigate.
“Makivvik is deeply disappointed by the handling of the voting process in Nunavik by Elections Canada. We have learned that polling hours were inconsistent across many communities, and, alarmingly, that some communities were unable to vote altogether,” a statement on their website reads.
“In many cases, Nunavimmiut were effectively denied their right to participate in this election.”
Several factors led to staffing issues on Election Day: source
Elections Canada Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault “deeply regrets that some electors in Nunavik were not able to cast their vote,” he said in a statement to CTV News on Wednesday.
“Elections Canada will review the circumstances that led to this situation, as well as the measures taken during this election to improve voting services to Indigenous electors. We will publish the findings.”
On election night, a source with Elections Canada confirmed there were a combination of factors at play causing issues with staffing at polls in the riding of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou.
In some communities, Elections Canada was unable to recruit workers despite significant efforts, and in others, it was difficult or impossible to get workers and materials to some communities because of weather, the source said.
The source also said that some communities did have the ability to cast ballots during the advanced poll weekend.
Liberal Mandy Gull-Masty won the riding of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou over incumbent, Bloc Quebecois’ Sylvie Berube.
‘There needs to be a cultural shift’
Despite a more than 68 per cent voter turnout across the country, ballot numbers in Canada’s north fell well below the national average.
The riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski in northern Manitoba, for example, only saw 43 per cent of eligible voters in that region cast their ballots.
Sean Carleton, a professor of history and Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba, say those living in northern and remote communities face a lot of barriers when it comes to voting.
“There is a long history of Inuit people having uneven access to being able to cast their ballot. Extra steps are needed to ensure that everyone that wants to cast their ballot, has the ability to do so,” he says. “We need to learn from these issues.”
Tulaugak agrees. He says this never should have happened.
“Next time they are planning to vote, and doing the election in the north, they should prepare,” he says.
“This was unacceptable. It’s an unfair election.”
With files from CTV News National Correspondent Rachel Aiello
