Calls for investigation after some in Nunavik left out of vote due to polling station issues

Rachel Watts · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Tiivi Tulaugak was looking guardant to voting successful his archetypal predetermination successful Ivujivik, Nunavik's northernmost community located successful Quebec. But the 18-year-old's excitement rapidly turned into vexation connected Monday day erstwhile helium recovered retired helium was among the residents who wouldn't beryllium capable to formed a ballot. 

CBC News has heard from residents successful 5 Nunavik communities who reported issues at polling stations, including immoderate that closed early — oregon didn't unfastened astatine all. 

"In my opinion, it's illegal," said Tulaugak, who called the concern "unacceptable." "They should program and signifier earlier the election."

Now, the Makivvik Corporation, the enactment representing Inuit successful Nunavik, is calling connected Elections Canada to investigate. It says it learned polling hours were inconsistent and immoderate communities couldn't ballot altogether.

"This is unacceptable successful 2025. In galore cases, Nunavimmiut were efficaciously denied their close to enactment successful this election," work a statement.

Makivvik is demanding Elections Canada instrumentality contiguous steps to guarantee that each Inuk successful Nunavik has adjacent entree to voting successful aboriginal elections.

In a connection connected Monday, Elections Canada said upwind issues were affecting flights for workers but did not corroborate however galore villages were affected, oregon whether polling booths did adjacent down.

"In respective cases, it was not imaginable to enlistee section teams. In different cases, harsh upwind conditions person prevented entree to communities," work the connection connected Monday. 

On Tuesday, Elections Canada told CBC it was inactive gathering much information.

Mandy Gull-Masty, former expansive chief of the Cree Nation Government successful Quebec, won the spot successful the region, flipping the Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou riding Liberal by conscionable a mates 1000 votes implicit the Bloc. 

Lawyer weighs successful connected what tin beryllium done

Julius Grey, a constitutional and quality rights lawyer successful Montreal, says the close to ballot is fundamental, and the Elections Act is taxable to the Charter.

"Accessibility is 1 portion of the close to vote, truthful a tribunal could intervene connected it," said Grey. "Now whether what could beryllium done, I don't know."

He says recourse for individuals affected by this could manifest arsenic a declaration for aboriginal safeguards oregon a symbolic monetary compensation for breach of a Charter right, for example.

But helium says being excluded from voting tin hap — whether that beryllium owed to a mistake, a polling presumption closing aboriginal oregon a elector not being capable to participate the voting area, for example.

Now, to spell arsenic acold arsenic overturning oregon annulling the results of a riding, Grey says that would necessitate demonstrating a existent anticipation that the result could person been different.

"If a riding was won by 30 votes and it appears that 2,000 radical were deprived of the vote, past the solution would beryllium to annul the ballot successful that country and clasp a byelection," helium said.

"But that is not truthful conscionable due to the fact that a fewer radical didn't vote. Because you tin ideate however hard it would beryllium to person claims aft each election."

Another anticipation is simply a declaratory alleviation — a benignant of ineligible remedy to state that "those communities should beryllium served and that an mistake was made successful not serving them," said Grey.

'It whitethorn permission a atrocious sensation successful their mouth' 

Veldon Coburn, subordinate prof and module seat of Indigenous Relations Initiative astatine McGill University, says there's an accidental for a post-mortem and to usage this riding arsenic a benignant of lawsuit survey to forestall akin situations successful the adjacent election.

"Indigenous peoples person a agelong past of lasting up for their rights," said Coburn, who is Anishinaabe from Pikwàkanagàn.

"Fighting for the close to enactment successful electoral authorities has been thing that's been beloved to them. So Elections Canada whitethorn person awakened a spot of a sleeping elephantine here."

Due to the riding's unsocial constitution and a important Indigenous population, helium says residents whitethorn beryllium feeling "rightly aggrieved and wronged."

Part of the problem, helium says, stems from much than a period of governmental disenfranchisement faced by Indigenous people.

"There's a fig of barriers for each sorts of matters of participating successful authorities and informal electoral politics. So it would beryllium disheartening … successful this epoch of reconciliation," said Coburn.

"I'm benignant of a small spot bewildered that this could happen."

Coburn says Elections Canada should beryllium capable to expect immoderate of these issues — particularly considering the imaginable harms to Indigenous voters.

"It whitethorn permission a atrocious sensation successful their mouth," helium said.

"It would beryllium incumbent upon Elections Canada officials to mend the narration wherever there's been a important harm."