Métis voters from across Saskatchewan headed to the polls Saturday to elect members to the provincial Métis council.
The province is divided into 12 regions, each with a representative.
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On top of electing a local representative, voters will choose four provincial executive positions including the president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer.
The competition for this election is wide open after former president Robert Doucette decided not to run.
“In this election, there are 47 candidates, nine running for the president. In the 2012 election, there were 27 candidates,” chief electoral officer Loretta Metzger said.
According to the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan (MN-S), 1,775 votes were cast in early voting and advanced polls. Regina and La Loche were the most active and five regions have surpassed the total number of votes cast in their region in 2012.
Metzger said that in 2012, only 3,000 votes were cast in total and only 470 in advance.
Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI) president Shirley Isbister credits the high voter turnout to a need for change.
“I think this is probably the most important election the Métis have ever had.”
“We need change. We’ve had years of fighting within provincial Métis council and we haven’t moved forward,” Isbister said.
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The Métis Nation’s federal funding was cut in 2014 after a legislative assembly wasn’t held for five years. Under its constitution, a legislative assembly is supposed to happen every six months.
Even this election was postponed from Feb. 4 because the chief electoral officer was dealing with a serious health problem.
But on Saturday, all 73 polls opened on time, according to the chief electoral officer.
Results will be available on the Métis Nation’s website as they come in.
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