An appeal is under way to attempt to throw out the results of the April 14 Mosquito First Nation band election.
The appeal alleges mail in ballots used in the election were bought and sold from electors on the reserve. As well, other voter irregularities and possible fraud is alleged, including the counting of mail-in ballots from now-deceased members of the reserve.
Noel Stone Jr. was the winner of the race for chief in the vote, which also saw a new band council elected. The appeal, covering both the races for chief and council, is now in the hands of the federal department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
The department has been notifying Mosquito band election candidates about the appeal in the past month, seeking further responses to the allegations.
According to documents obtained by the News-Optimist, a notice of appeal as well as a sworn affidavit from Celeste Spyglass, one of the council candidates in that vote, were filed in May under the Indian Band Election Regulations with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, now known as Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
Spyglass's affidavit, sworn May 19 before a Commissioner of Oaths, alleges widespread corrupt practices and vote-buying in the election for chief and council.
The appeal was filed by Prince Albert lawyer Ron Cherkewich. According to the notice of appeal letter prepared by Cherkewich, dated May 25 of this year, "the situation at the April 14, 2011 election speaks to a level of vote buying undocumented in any case to date. The price being paid for mail in ballots and voter consideration ranges from $300 to $500."
"For Saskatchewan Indian Act elections the consideration paid for a corrupted vote sets a new market standard. This 'new high' sets a 'new low' in corrupt practices for Saskatchewan and maybe all of Canada," states the appeal letter from Cherkewich.
Among the corrupt practices alleged in Spyglass's affidavit include the discovery on April 15 of voter declaration forms "torn and bundled into a black garbage bag."
As well, the affidavit states the chief electoral officer was advised "that the mail in ballots were being bought and sold with respect to electing Noel Stone Jr. a candidate for Chief and with respect to electing certain other candidates for council." Furthermore the affidavit alleges the chief electoral officer 'did not take any protective measures to ensure against corrupt practices."
Eight statements were attached to the affidavit from individuals claiming to have received payment to support the Noel Stone candidacy and other candidates. The statements allege they were offered amounts of "$300", "$400" and even "$500" for their mail-in ballots.
Celeste Spyglass's affidavit also alleges "the source of the pool of money that was used to buy ballots is derived from the sale of assets under the ownership, management and or control of the Mosquito Indian Reserve trust."
It alleges "in particular the sale of certain lands held in the name of the corporate trustee, Mosquito Grizzly Bear's Head Lean Man TLE Makah Holdings Corporation were sold and made available to Noel Stone (Jr.) and his supporters for the specific purposes of purchasing votes. The amount of money was approximately $400,000."
It was also alleged in the affidavit that one of the other successful candidates for council was caught on video buying ballots, and that ballots were cast and counted from deceased persons still included on the voter's list. Several other supporting documents were also filed.
Cherkewich's notice of appeal requests the entire election results for chief and council of April 14 be "set aside under Section 79 of the Indian Act and under the Band Election Regulations and a new election ordered."
This is just the latest controversy surrounding Mosquito First Nation, which has seen criminal charges laid against former Chief Clarence Stone and four others in respect to Treaty Land Entitlement fraud and breach of trust on the reserve, dating back to the early 2000s. Two of those charges against TLE trustees resulted in convictions for breach-of-trust last year while three remain before the courts.
As well, opponents of both the former and current band councils on the reserve have stepped up their criticism of council's policies in recent months to the News-Optimist. Poor housing conditions have been cited most often as a major concern of the opponents, who have organized meetings on Mosquito First Nation to voice their concerns.
The claims of vote-buying and corruption remain only allegations at this point, and the election results on the reserve still remain in effect. It is also not yet determined how extensive any alleged corruption activity was or whether the final results would have changed as a result.
However, it was confirmed that Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has received the notice of appeal according to correspondence obtained by the News-Optimist. The documents were addressed to Robert Armstrong, one of the unsuccessful candidates for council in the April vote.
In correspondence from Aboriginal Affairs to Armstrong dated Aug. 30, copies of the notice of appeal were sent to candidates in the April 14 election, inviting them to respond to the allegations set out in the appeal within 14 days.
This is not the first time vote-buying has been alleged in a First Nations band election in the province, as allegations had previously swirled around the 2005 Red Pheasant First Nation vote that saw Charles Meechance elected as Chief.
That result was overturned and a new election ordered the following year by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada when it was revealed rampant vote-buying had taken place on the reserve, with voters offered sums of $100 and $200 for mail in ballots.
Meechance and his co-accused Bert Benson were later convicted of fraud over $5,000, with Meechance sentenced to eight months in jail in December 2009.
