Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist
GASPÉ – A petition with 314 signatures, collected by Gespeg elders, was presented at a press conference on November 21, calling on the Gespeg band council to resume the electoral process due to problems that occurred during the election on September 8.
The petition notes that communications, including the notice of nomination and polling relating to the September 2024 election, were transmitted only by email, and that by not mailing the communications by the post deprived several voters of their right to vote. According to the petition, this inadequate communication resulted in a lack of candidates for the positions to be filled.
“This irregularity in the way electoral information is communicated renders the electoral process invalid and its result revocable,” the document states.
In a press briefing, Gespeg elders, including two former chiefs and Mark Sinnett, a candidate in the last election, called for the September 2024 election to be invalidated and to mandate an electoral officer to hold a new election as soon as possible.
“We have nothing against anyone or the council in place. What we are saying is that our elections have not been going well since the beginning and this has caused all the problems we see today and especially community members who did not have their right to vote,” notes Mr. Sinnett. According to organizers, some employees thought about signing the petition but feared reprisals if they did.
“I have great confidence that most employees would have pointed it out. All we want is a fair election,” insists Mr. Sinnett.
“A lot of former members who don’t have internet didn’t hear that there was an election. They found out how to vote, receive a ballot by mail and return it. There were some who received their ballot after the election. They weren’t able to vote. That caused a major problem. Normally, in all municipal elections in Quebec or Canada, all voters receive a notice before the election. Here, that didn’t happen,” adds Francis Mainville, especially for members who live outside Gaspé.
Of the 1,800 eligible voters, only 420 participated in the September election, compared to approximately 600 votes in the previous election, where mail-in ballots were also counted.
However, everything would have been done according to the Electoral Code. “It depends on the interpretation. Our code is not 100% clear. There has been a lot of interpretation. Our code does not contain all the possibilities. There is a shortcoming: you can contest, but we do not know what to do after the contestation. That is what has led to where we are today,” explains Mr. Sinnett.
“According to our customs and traditions, everyone was notified by mail,” adds Mr. Mainville.
“In the Electoral Code, we must find all possible means to reach all members. That is the mandate of the president,” emphasizes Linda Jean, another of the initiators of the petition.
The petition was filed during Gespeg’s annual general meeting on November 24 (see other text).
For the time being, recourse to the courts is excluded. “Anything is possible, but we are not there yet. We want the council to understand that their community is speaking out and that we want new elections. That’s all there is to it for now. If there is anything else, we will see in the future. We are asking the council to take this very seriously,” says Mr. Sinnett.
“We don’t want to make threats. We don’t want to go there. We want to protect our community. We have suffered enough recently. We want to do good for our community. We will follow our customs and traditions and that is the right we want to exercise at Sunday’s meeting,” continues Mr. Sinnett.
“We have never seen Gespeg so united both internally and externally on one point,” he says.
The Electoral Code allows a petition to be submitted to the council if it garners signatures from at least 10% of voting members.
“We are within our rights,” calculates Ms. Jean.
Having been a candidate for the position of chief, Mr. Sinnett denies having any apparent conflict of interest.
“Absolutely not. If you remember, my point of view was to say that the election was not done well. I said it from the beginning. I continued until I withdrew for personal reasons. The election was not done well. We did not join our members. This is not revenge. It did not work. We have to do it again so that it works like a world,” Mr. Sinnett responds.
The elders believe they have the support of the majority of Gespeg members.
