Gender parity vote planner replies to letter

I am writing to respond to the letter from Adamee Mathewsie in your March 14, 1997, issue (Who’s planning gender parity vote?).

A detailed public information package in now being developed for the Nunavut public vote on guaranteed equal representation of men and women in the Nunavut legislative assembly on May 26, 1997.

The public information package is being developed by representatives of the three parties to the Nunavut Political Accord: the Governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., in consultation with the Nunavut Implementation Commission.

It will be publicized as widely as possible in advance of the vote.

The public vote itself will be conducted under guidelines similar to those for the public vote on the capital for Nunavut held in December 1995.

People who are 18 years of age by the day of the vote and who are Canadian citizens who have lived in Nunavut for at least one year, will be eligible to vote.

The question being asked in this public vote is to ask the opinion of the residents of Nunavut whether the Nunavut legislative assembly should be elected in a new way which would guarantee equal numbers of men and women in the Nunavut legislature.

Voters will be asked to say whether they agree or disagree with the new proposal.

The public information package will describe in detail how the new system would work and how the existing voting system would work in Nunavut if there were no change recommended.

Every effort will be made to allow people who are sick or disabled to vote, using proxy votes.

Ballots and the public information package will be translated into Inuktitut syllabics and orthography, English and French.

Photographs will not be needed in the May 26, 1997 vote because there will be no candidates ­ the vote will be a “Yes” or “No” answer to a question about whether residents agree with the proposal for a new way of electing MLAs.

The information package will also explain how students or others who are temporarily away from Nunavut could vote through advance polls or by proxy voting.

People who are originally from Nunavut, but who have permanently moved outside Nunavut to work are not considered residents of Nunavut for the purpose of this vote.

David M. Hamilton
Chief Polling Officer
Public Vote on Guaranteed Equal Representation