Elections Canada report on Nunavik fiasco short on reassurances

You had one job, Elections Canada …

Running smooth, fair federal elections is the whole reason for being for the independent, non-partisan agency of Parliament responsible for conducting federal general elections, byelections and referendums.

But Elections Canada botched the April 28 vote in Nunavik, resulting in many people being denied the opportunity to cast a ballot or encountering what the agency calls “major barriers” in exercising their democratic right.

Last week, the agency published its report into what went wrong. It blamed the problem on a lack of planning and no local outreach.

During advanced voting periods — a four-day window leading up to the election — six communities received no services and seven had reduced access to voting, the Elections Canada report says.

On election day itself, two communities had no voting at all, seven received reduced services while five — just over one-third of Nunavik’s 14 communities — enjoyed a full 12 hours of voting, like everywhere else in Canada.

It’s easy to understand the frustration of Nunavimmiut over how the election was run and now by what feels like a cavalier attitude in Elections Canada’s report: mistakes were made. We’ll do better next time. We promise.

Tiivi Tullaugak, an 18-year-old who would have voted for the first time in April — if only he could have — told a Nunatsiaq News reporter, “They took our right to vote.”

Russ Johnson, a teacher who used to work in Aupaluk, called the election fiasco “an insult to Inuit” and the report’s recommendations “ridiculous.”

You’d hate to think there’s a double standard at play. But imagine the hell to pay if an election went as badly in an urban, southern riding. What if only one-third of voters in Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s Nepean riding were able to cast a ballot on election day? Or in the Carleton riding where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre ran and lost?

Whenever there’s a screwup in government, the public wants to see officials who messed up pay a price. In this case, the returning officer for the Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou riding resigned after election day.

But should the accountability go higher?

In September, Canada’s chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault offered what appeared to be a genuine apology to Nunavik voters and said he shared their anger. He led an investigation into what went wrong, and delivered its results in a timely manner.

Is that enough? In some cases, the guy at the top might be expected to fall on his sword after such a serious mistake.

Election Canada’s Nunavik fiasco is about as serious a mistake as can be made in the running of an election.

It’s particularly tragic that such bungling occurred in Nunavik, where voter turnout rates for any election is, sadly, already very low.

It’s an enormous setback for democracy in a region whose voters don’t have a strong tradition of getting out to vote.

It’s going to take a lot of doing to overcome the apathy that leads people to wonder, “Why vote? It doesn’t matter anyway.”

If there’s a silver lining, it seems like the current minority government situation in Parliament probably means another federal election could be on deck within a year or so. It’ll be a chance to get it right and make up for the insult Nunavik suffered in April.