September 8th is the day Metis across Saskatchewan will go to the polls.
The election date was selected at a Metis Nation Legislative Assembly held on Saturday in Prince Albert.
The vote was originally scheduled to take place last month, but a judge ruled there were grounds for challenges to its legitimacy.
The accounting firm MNP will serve as the electoral officer for the campaign.
Arrangements have also been made to have an oversight committee run the MN-S from August 3rd to September 6th.
Al Rivard is an area director from La Ronge and is happy the new date has been set:
“I’m hoping that it will be open, transparent, that it’s accessible to all Metis across the province, that the polling stations are well-maintained and managed, and there is accountability — so, all of those things that you would expect out of a regular election.”
Phyllis McDonald is a Metis resident from Western Region 2A.
She hopes a well-run election can bolster the legitimacy of the Metis Nation:
“I’m just hoping that the non-Aboriginal people recognize us as an organization, as a government — and hopefully, that we could move as far ahead as First Nations have.”
So far, neither level of government has publicly stated whether or not they’ll fund the election.
An official with the MN-S says they approached the province last week about that very quesion, and they are hopeful funding will be provided.
Many people at the weekend meeting were quite adamant that ballot boxes should be offered in each specific Metis community, and not one for the entire region as had been suggested before.
However, Eastern Region 2 area director Helen Johnson notes that not every Metis local is active — and she doesn’t want ballot boxes put in places where there is no active membership.
Johnson says she has heard talk that up to 100 ballot boxes could be needed for the election, but she expects it will be less than that.