EDMONTON — A woman from Saddle Lake Cree Nation was in Federal Court Tuesday fighting for her right to vote in band elections.
The Indigenous community about 170 kilometres northeast of Edmonton has regulations that prevent descendants of Indigenous women who have married non-status men from voting in its elections.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Justice Paul Favel said in a written decision on Feb. 15 that McCarthy was unable to vote in band elections because her mother married a non-status man, stripping her of her status. The Bill to Amend the Indian Act reinstated status to women and their children in 1985. “It’s a knowing willingness to not accept us,” said McCarthy after the hearing, where she came to support Collins. “My issue doesn’t have to do with the election law. It has to do with my right to vote, to be recognized as a full band member.”
Jackson-Littlewolfe accepted her nomination as a candidate for band council election on April 15, 2021, Favel said in his judgment. Five days later, the Chair of the Committee advised Jackson-Littlewolfe that she was not an eligible candidate because she was in a common-law marriage. The First Nation said that the Common Law Marriage Prohibition is a traditional custom that was adopted by the teachings of the Methodist Church in the late 1800s.
Orlagh O’Kelly, a lawyer who represented McCarthy and Collins, is hopeful last week’s decision in McCarthy’s case will bode well for Collins.
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