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THESSALON BAND OFFICE BLOCKING ELECTION APPEAL PROCESS, OFFICIALS SAY
Electoral officer and appeal board members slam new administration's failure to
follow election code
Author of the article:
Kyle Darbyson
Published Dec 20, 2023 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 5 minute read
Join the conversation
A snapshot of Thessalon First Nation on Tuesday morning. The community is
located roughly 100 kilometres southeast of Sault Ste. Marie. Submitted
ARTICLE CONTENT
Thessalon First Nation’s leadership structure is not allowing the proper appeal
process to move forward following last month’s election, according to members of
the appeal board.
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Officials say that while a number of appeals were filed following the election
of Chief Joseph Wabigwan and four new members of council on Nov. 17, the appeal
board still hasn’t received or reviewed these submissions as of Wednesday.
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According to a Dec. 13 letter addressed to Thessalon band members, the board
claims it received no appeals in the aftermath of the election and sought
clarification from the new administration.
The board’s inquiries were reportedly met with a cryptic email citing privacy
concerns and a subsequent response stating that “the matter has been resolved.”
This response prompted appeal board elder Gerry Clark to visit the band office
in person, where acting band manager Lesley Boulrice allegedly told him that she
already handled the appeals “personally.”
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Speaking to The Sault Star last week, Clark said he was quite taken aback by
Boulrice’s alleged statement, since he claims it stands in direct violation of
the process outlined in the Thessalon First Nation Custom Election Code.
“I told her several times that there’s nothing in our election code that states
that the band administrator looks after appeals. It’s up to our committee,”
Clark told The Star last week.
The Star reached out to Boulrice to address these allegations but was told that
she wouldn’t be available to speak until the New Year.
On Dec. 13, Chief Wabigwan and members of council released their own letter to
the community addressing the ongoing controversy, stating that one Carol
Bobiwash had been hired on to facilitate the appeal process in accordance with
their Custom Election Code.
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However, Section 7.2 of this document, which is available to read on the First
Nation’s official website as of Wednesday afternoon, stipulates that “The Appeal
Board shall supervise and administer all election appeals,” while Section 7.1
states that this board must be appointed 15 days prior to the election.
Talking to The Star on Tuesday, Bobiwash confirmed that the band office had
received some election appeals, but claims these appeals were denied for not
following the Election Code.
“So at this point and time, the electoral officer declared who the winners were,
the council has been fully sworn in and they’re going to fulfil their mandate,”
Bobiwash said.
However, electoral officer Vaughn Johnston, who has overseen Thessalon First
Nation elections for over two decades, alleges that the new administration is
knowingly skirting the rules.
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“They just didn’t want to have to follow the process, because I think they’re
afraid that something might turn against them,” he told The Star.
Johnston brought his grievances directly to Boulrice in a Dec. 9 letter, in
which he admonished the new administration for allegedly not following the
Election Code and using his authority to block the proper appeal process.
In this letter, Johnston questioned why, according to him, an appeal from one
band member was denied based on his final report on the Nov. 17 election.
“I never addressed this specific appeal in my final report so I am wondering how
my report can be quoted as the reason for the dismissal of this appeal?” the
electoral officer wrote.
Johnston also said he received a phone call from an appeal board member who was
dismissed from their position based on his recommendation, even though no such
recommendation was given.
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“It appears that either the present [chief and council] or you or both of you
are placing the appeal decision denials on me rather than taking responsibility
for your actions,” Johnston wrote, addressing Boulrice directly.
“For this reason, I will not be associated with a disingenuous appeal process.”
Joseph Wabigwan was elected chief of Thessalon First Nation following the
election that took place on Nov. 17. Submitted
A Thessalon resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, supplied The Star with a
number of the appeals that they say were filed in the wake of last month’s
election.
One purported appeal claims that members were each presented with one ballot to
vote for chief and council, even though Section 5.5 of the Election Code
stipulates that voters must be supplied with up two separate ballots during a
chief and council election.
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Another purported appeal took issue with the pre-nomination procedure as
outlined in Section 1.7, reporting that the voters list and a copy of the
Election Code wasn’t publicly posted on reserve.
The most serious of these accusations claim that some people didn’t provide
proper identification when they came in to vote in-person on Nov. 17, prompting
wider concerns about how this lax oversight impacted the results of the
election.
“Typically, with any kind of voting process that’s not on the reserve, if that
were to happen, that would be enough to uphold an appeal or to call for a
re-election,” the resident told The Star.
“So they’re straight up ignoring what the process is and continuing to do what
they want.”
The Thessalon resident went on to say that the administration’s lack of
co-operation during the appeal process is especially frustrating given
Wabigwan’s election campaign, where he promised to improve transparency between
the band office and Thessalon members.
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“I’ll stop making newly elected chief and council sign confidentiality
agreements that keep things hidden,” Wabigwan wrote on his personal Facebook
page on Oct. 6. “We want things to be clear and open.”
On Oct. 14, Wabigwan also stated via Facebook that, under his leadership, “the
election code will be changed” and he would “remove any staff members who have
not followed to the election code of law.”
The Star reached out to Wabigwan for an interview but was told by a member of
the band office that he wasn’t available for comment.
Moving forward, appeal board member Levi Laundrie told The Star they are still
trying to figure out how to get Thessalon’s new chief and council to abide by
the terms of the Election Code and open up the appeal process.
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“Even if there was no grounds for the appeals … I think we should be able to see
them. It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Laundrie said.
“If there’s nothing in the appeals and there’s just grounds for dismissal, it
should have been nothing to let us see them and let us do our job.”
According to Johnston, the appeal board’s only real option to get the new chief
and council to play ball at this point is to take them to court, although he
believes this is unlikely to happen.
“Whoever is taking the band to court for not following the appeal process would
have to pay for their own legal fees and that could be a lengthy process too,”
he said. “So that probably wouldn’t happen unless somebody had the money.”
Wabigwan captured roughly 42 per cent of the vote to become Thessalon First
Nation’s new chief in last month’s election, besting two-term leader Edward
Boulrice by 64 votes (with 377 ballots cast overall).
Wabigwan’s council consists of Robert Simon Sr., Robert Simon Jr., Roxanne
Boulrice, Lisa Boulrice and Mary-Ann Giguere.
Giguere was the only member of the 2020-23 administration to retain her seat on
council.
kdarbyson@postmedia.com
The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the
federal government
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