(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Election issues

Pelican Narrows councilors score court victory, remaining results expected Tuesday night

Apr 26, 2021 | 12:00 PM

The five councillors elected earlier this month at Pelican Narrows will be allowed to keep their seats according to a weekend ruling from a federal court judge.

The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation election was held on April 13 for every community except Sturgeon Landing, which had its activities postponed due to a COVID outbreak.

Head electoral officer Burke Ratte initially said the ballots for all councillors in all remaining communities would be counted after the polls closed, with ballots for chief counted after Sturgeon Landing held their vote. However, in a follow-up statement on the day of the election, Ratte said every ballot (chief, councillors and Elder’s council) would be counted after Sturgeon Landing voted. Every voting community except Pelican Narrows complied, and Ratte ordered a re-vote for that community.

Late last week, Prince Albert lawyer Peter Abrametz Sr. filed an appeal and over the weekend, Judge Sébastien Grammond agreed with the injunction request. Speaking with paNOW, Abrametz said Ratte overstepped his authority.

“There is simply no authority for the Chief Electoral Officer to arbitrarily change the rules of the election act,” he said.

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Abrametz explained there was a valid vote held during both the advance poll and the regular polls, adding all the voters were asked to show identification and were re-checked to make sure they didn’t vote twice.

“The [Deputy Returning Officer] decided to follow the election act which says as soon as the polls close you count the ballots,” Abrametz explained.

The weekend decision from Judge Grammond stated the only way the results can be reviewed is if the appeal tribunal deems it necessary.

“The PBCN election code does not empower the head Electoral Officer to nullify an election once it has taken place,” he said in his decision.

There were no costs awarded.

The five councillors elected were Sarah Swan, Thomas Linklater Jr., Elizabeth Michel, Ronald Michelle Jr., and Myrtle Ballantyne.

In a follow-up statement Sunday, Ratte confirmed advance polls and regular polls would still be running at Sturgeon Landing on Monday and Tuesday, and that all the results from all the communities, including ballots for Chief at Pelican Narrows, would be counted when polls close Tuesday night.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell