Voter registration starts for Nunavik’s April 27 referendum

Few came out Feb. 27 to meet with Nunavik Regional Government negotiators at the Katittavik town hall, but 7,000 Nunavik residents will be eligible to vote in the April 27 referendum that will decide the future of the Nunavik Regional Government. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

MONTREAL — On April 27, eligible voters in Nunavik will be asked to say yes or no to the following question: “Do you approve the final agreement of the creation of the Nunavik Regional Government?”

Ballots cast in favour of the agreement must represent 25 per cent plus one of all eligible voters.

So if there are 7,000 names on the voters’ list, 1,751 people must vote in favour of the agreement in order for it to be ratified.

Nunavik residents who want to vote in the April 27 referendum must make sure their names are on the electors’ list by April 14. Local returning officers have already begun to revise it.

If ratified, the NRG will amalgamate the Kativik Regional Government, the Kativik School Board and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services into a single body.

Inuit and non-Inuit who are least 18 years old and have lived Nunavik during the 12 months period leading up the referendum day are eligible to vote.

Nunavik beneficiaries who live outside the region may also cast ballots.

There are currently about 6,000 eligible voters on the list, according to Adamie Padlayat, the regional referendum director.

Most Nunavimmiut do not need to register to vote, but newly eligible voters and those who recently moved to Nunavik should visit their northern village municipal office between April 11 and April 14 to register with their local returning officer.

Relatives of people who recently died should also visit to make sure those names are removed from the electoral lists, he said.

Eligible voters who don’t live in Nunavik may contact returning officer Sonia Gosselin at Makivik Corp.’s Montreal office to ensure their names are added to the list.

Gosselin will send them a package that includes a ballot, which they must return to the Makivik office by the April 27 referendum date.

Padlayat expects the list of eligible voters to swell to more than 7,000, with the addition of non-beneficiary Nunavik residents who are eligible to vote in the referendum.

“We’re really hoping we can get as many people as possible,” Padlayat told Nunatsiaq News. “It’s important to hear what people think of this new governance model.”

If Nunavimmiut vote as heavily as they did in the region’s last referendum, achieving the 50-per-cent-plus-one threshold should be easy, Padlayat said.

In a 2006 referendum to ratify the Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement, 84 per cent of eligible voters turned out to vote, a significantly higher turnout than in most of the region’s municipal, provincial or federal elections.

The official referendum period begins March 21, according to Quebec’s referendum rules.

Then, the NRG’s negotiators must cease to promote and advertise the final agreement.

From March 21 to April 27, only electors can spend money to promote their views on the NRG. They can file to have those expenses, limited to $1 per elector, reimburses

Padlayat encourages eligible voters to vote early if they can, to avoid missing their chance.

Advance polls and special off-poll voting dates will be held:

• April 19, 21 and 22 in all Nunavik communities;

• April 19, 21 and 22 in southern jails, when referendum staff visits;

• April 18 at the Raglan mine site; and,

• April 20 at Nunavik elders’ homes.