‘Silence could be consent’: Alberta First Nations push to get out vote for referendum

EDMONTON - Angel Houle says she's never voted in an Alberta provincial election, but this month's referendum is different. Not only is she casting a ballot, Houle is helping outfit First Nations’ leaders with everything they need to get out the vote on Oct. That’s when Albertans decide whether the province should stay within Canada, or hold a second, binding referendum on breaking away.

Houle, along with other staff at the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, has been organizing workshops to build teams among member nations. Those teams are boots on the ground, spreading the word on where and how to vote. It’s about fighting for a united Canada and for the treaties and agreements that underpin and secure that unity.

“The decisions being made in this referendum matter to treaty people and our nations and our future generations,” Houle said in Edmonton. “It’s important to let everyone know that silence could be consent in this referendum.” Houle said lately community members have been vocal about wanting more information. “It tells me that they’re wanting to participate, so that they know their voice is heard.” First Nations people are among many groups — on both sides of the issue — spreading the message and rallying support for the vote.

Albertans are to vote on 10 questions. Nine focus on immigration and constitutional issues. The campaign has exposed rifts and a consequential lawsuit between First Nations and Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government.

Smith says First Nations remain valued partners. First Nations leaders have wondered how that can be so, given they feel their people, land and treaties — signed before Alberta even became a province — have been treated as an afterthought in the separation debate. Some First Nations have called in help from seasoned organizers.

Tania Cameron is an Ojibwa woman from Ontario who launched the First Nations Rock the Vote campaign from her living room more than a decade ago. She recently spent more than a week in Alberta giving presentations, sharing get-out-the-vote strategies, and working with leaders across communities, including Treaty 8 Sovereign First Nations. The momentum is building, Cameron said.