County to conduct Siksika Nation senate, referendum election

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

At the request of the province of Alberta, Wheatland County has agreed to conduct the 2021 senate and referendum election for Siksika residents.

As the senate and referendum election date has roughly fallen in line with Wheatland County’s own election, provincial municipal affairs reached out to the county asking if they would be willing to conduct the election in conjunction with the municipal election.

“We don’t always encounter this, I’m not sure how frequently senate elections have occurred in conjunction with municipal elections,” said County Reeve Amber Link. “From my recollection of provincial history, it’s not frequent we have had referendum questions either.”

She explained the province indicated there will be an election, and the idea behind pairing that with Wheatland County’s municipal election is to increase efficiency and lower the costs to conduct.

Link said there are pros and cons to operating as such, but as long as both elections are handled carefully, it should progress smoothly. 

“One benefit is it can make it a more fiscally efficient process because elections are already being conducted; so you can add that onto municipal and school board elections that are being conducted and not incur the cost of conducting a full provincial referendum.

“A concern of that is I don’t want to see the municipal elections take a sideline to debate or campaigning that may happen around the referendum question,” added Link. 

For the approximately 4,300 Siksika Nation members over the age of 18 living on reserve, they will have the option to vote locally as well as for the senate and referendum.

The approximately 4,000 other members living off reserve in the surrounding area will have the option to vote in the municipal election local to their municipality, and to either travel to Wheatland County to vote for the senate and referendum in person, or request a special ballot to mail in.

With regards to municipal candidates, Link cautioned them to be very clear about their platforms and issues they intend to address, as well as what actually lies within their jurisdiction.

Link hopes to keep all the information separate so the public does not become confused or misinformed come election time.

“It will be a challenge to just delineate the issues. I think that will be up to both the candidate and … their moderators or facilitators for debates and forums.”

The county’s municipal election will be held on Oct. 18, with seven polling stations available in person.

Provincial municipal affairs will be providing a grant to assist with any additional costs associated with the senate and referendum.