First Nations politics is a hard type of politics.
An upcoming election has caused a stir among members of the Bearspaw First Nation – one of three bands in the Stoney Nakoda Nation.
Held in August the past two terms, the election is being pushed to Dec. 6 by the incumbent chief and council acting on “behalf of the people of Bearspaw” to return it to the customary date in fall/early winter.
Concerned Bearspaw band members said incumbent chief Darcy Dixon and council have applied “inconsistent practices,” and the members were “never consulted” about an extended election timeline.
However, Bearspaw CEO Rob Shotclose said the extension is a legal right chief and council are exercising, and they had given notice of their intention in a Band Council Resolution (BCR) in January 2014.
The chief and council signed a second BCR on July 5, 2016, that outlined the custom election regulations.
This past June, Bearspaw elder Tom Twoyoungmen was surprised to learn the election he thought was being held in early August had been extended by four months.
“What we want is to stop them from having the election in December,” said Twoyoungmen. “It is supposed to be this August. We’re protesting this election, their (the incumbent chief and council’s) term is over.”
Twoyoungmen said he posted physical notes in public places to alert band members after he found out about the extension. He added a lot of the posters had been torn down.
Once Bearspaw and the Stoney people hear about this, said Twoyoungmen, he believes they will join him and others in a grassroots movement protesting the extended election.
The Stoney bands first held traditional elections in 1952. Five years later, the term of office for each band was set at two years until amendments and revisions at later dates for the Bearspaw and Chiniki bands.
The previous two Bearspaw elections were held in August 2011 and August 2013 due to being “altered by way of an Order of the Federal Court.”
The previous chief and council decided to extend their two-year to a four-year term, as opposed to holding an election in Dec. 2010. A federal court ruling forced Bearspaw First Nation to have an untimely August election. The results saw the chief and council booted from office in favour of the now incumbent.
Shotclose was one of the band members who filed documents to the feds against the former chief and council.
The Bearspaw band held a referendum in June 2013 and voted in favour to extend chief and council’s term in office from two years to three years.
Next on the list for chief and council was the desire “to set right the traditional election dates to match our customary time of year of early December,” as written in a June 2016 release.
A return to a December election would also align with the two Stoney bands – Wesley and Chiniki.
“We put out a BCR back in January 2014, stating that was the intention; that the next election will be moved back to honour around its custom date,” said Shotclose.
“Chief and council always considered summer time are holidays for them and for people getting away to powwows, sun dances, rodeos … and that’s the time of cultural activities and that’s the chief and council’s view.”
Incumbent Chief Darcy Dixon and councillors Rex Daniels, Narvil Kootenay, Roderick Hunter and Larry Daniels – all signed the BCR in 2014. They also all signed the July 2016 BCR.
“They did alert (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada – INAC) about their intentions,” said Shotclose. “And they did consult with lawyers that it is their right to reenact their custom time period and there was some sharing of this information with INAC, even though INAC doesn’t oversee the Bearspaw election. Bearspaw is under custom election where the nation itself manages it.”
INAC’s role is limited to ensuring that programs and services funded by the department continue to be delivered to community members, wrote Shawn Jackson, communications officer for INAC, in an email.
“As such, the department has no role to play in the administration of these rules nor in addressing alleged violations of these same rules,” wrote Jackson. “The question of the timing of an election must be posed to the First Nation’s leaders.”
Shotclose said the information about the election change has been made public on the Stoney Nakoda website (stoneynation.com), on the Bearspaw First Nation Facebook page, and physically posted in public buildings. He added some of the posted material had been torn down.
A formal band meeting or public hearing about the intention to return to the traditional December election date never occurred, though.
Instead it was more “informal meetings” like a face-to-face talk, said Shotclose.
“They did talk to their people, one-on-one,” said Shotclose. “That’s the difference between (Bearspaw chief and council) and the outside (municipalities). People come to the chief and council for everything, really … chief and council are the ones who consult with the people one-on-one.”
Shotclose added they never received a letter or heard of any complaints about the extension and those they spoke to had been “in favour” of returning to custom time.
“I would encourage anybody that has concerns to talk directly to chief and council, or I don’t know if they want to work through admin on that,” said Shotclose. “I think anyone in the office is willing to hear people out at the main Bearspaw office or through the administration if people have questions.”
Along with Twoyoungmen, a group of protesting Bearspaw elder and band members met, as well as other Stoney members, who wished to remain anonymous.
The group reiterated that chief and council “never consulted their people” and the extended election was only made aware to the public this past June.
The group reviewed the “lack of communication from leaders” and they expressed concern for the younger generations.
One elder called it an “illegal extension of power” by chief and council and it should have been put to a vote.
“We never received any letters or emails or anything from the band office,” said the elder. “They never announced anything about extending the term to what they please.
“What do we have to do? Do we have to go occupy that band office until everything is solved?”
The extended election by incumbent chief and council is “for them and not for their people,” the elder added.
The group spoke to organize a petition against the extended election and to reach out and organize with Bearspaw members in Eden Valley.
“The problem is, a lot of people want to voice their opinions, but the majority are scared of leadership backlash,” said a Bearspaw member.
There is “civil unrest” on the Stoney Nation, said another Bearspaw member.
“If (Bearspaw) chief and council follow Stoney protocol … give the people their election, stand down without hate, violence, racism, discrimination, and bring in balance.”
Payrolls for the incumbent chief and council will remain intact during the extension or “business as usual,” said Shotclose.
According to the Cochrane Eagle newspaper, the 2015 Stoney First Nation financial records show that in a 12-month period Chief Dixon made $125,217 and had $108,976 in expenses.
Councillor Rod Hunter made $89,441 and had $64,045 in expenses.
Coun. Narvil Kootenay $89,441 and had $57,799 in expenses.
Coun. Larry Daniels made $89,441 and had $52,728 in expenses, and Coun. Rex Daniels made $89,441 and had $51,914 in expenses.
The Bearspaw band has about 1,800 members. In Eden Valley, a satellite reserve, lives about 40 per cent of Bearspaw members.
For all three Stoney bands, only those aged 21 and over are eligible to vote in an election.
This works out to be about 800-900 eligible Bearspaw members, Shotclose believes.
