Concerns raised over potential election delay for Métis Nation of Alberta

The Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) currently holds an election for its leaders at local, regional and provincial levels every four years.

However, a special meeting has been called to vote on whether or not to delay the upcoming September 2022 election one year to 2023.

This is a cause for concern for some, including Adam Browning, the president of the Métis Nation of Alberta for Lethbridge and area.

He assumed the role in 2018 and wants to ensure those in leadership roles are updated frequently enough to reflect the community’s wishes.

“Holding timely elections is part of a healthy democracy,” Browning said. “Proposing to extend that really goes against the mandate of our community — which is that we’re elected every four years.”

The special meeting is taking place on June 4 at 10 a.m. in Grande Prairie, Alta.

It was approved by the MNA’s provincial council, which doesn’t include local leaders.

According to the MNA, moving the election by a year will give them time to complete and ratify their own constitution and elect new leaders under that system, sooner rather than later.

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“That idea of getting a new structure, an actual Métis government structure that’s designed by us, is very very important to the majority of our citizens,” explained the Métis Nation of Alberta’s provincial president Audrey Poitras, who’s been in her role for the last 26 years.

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But in Browning’s eyes, the location and three-week notice aren’t conducive to ensuring many members can participate.

“Having a special meeting that’s going to decide this is a nine-hour drive for people who are struggling in this economy,” he said. “There’s no virtual meeting option in place that’s being made available.

“You could have a group of a couple hundred people make a decision that normally would be set by several thousand.”

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The Métis membership in Alberta is more than 50,000 people. However, their policies dictate only 100 members need to vote on the resolution to change the election, and 75 per cent need to be in favour for it to pass.

Poitras is aware of some concerns around accessibility, but said it was determined during the COVID-19 pandemic that having a virtual format wasn’t feasible.

“We looked at numerous technology groups to see if they could guarantee us that if we had a meeting there would be a way of making sure that no one got missed, or no one didn’t have that opportunity to vote or to ask questions, and we couldn’t get that guarantee,” she explained.

So they scrapped it altogether. Instead, any member who shows up in-person will be able to have their say.

“That’s how we have to do it,” she said. “Under the bylaws that we are currently under, is call that meeting, try to provide whatever we can to bring the citizens out there and deal with it at a special assembly.”

If the resolution to delay the election isn’t passed, the 2022 September election will go ahead under the current system.