Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 3, 2007

FORT SMITH - A petition has been launched to challenge a recent election held by the Fort Smith Metis Council.

Ken Hudson, who was re-elected president at the council's annual general meeting on Aug. 25, said some people want the voting - including the selection of the executive and board of directors - to be done over.

Ken Hudson: Re-elected president says petition lacks legitimacy.

According to Hudson, the petition was launched by supporters of Jason Lepine, who lost in his second bid to become president.

Lepine said his failure to win the presidency had nothing to do with the petition and he didn't launch it, although he has agreed to be spokesperson for the petitioners

The petition was initiated by several members concerned about the election process, he said.

Lepine explained the petitioners are doubtful that voter participation in the elections was restricted to eligible Metis only.

In particular, he explained scrutinizers for some candidates noticed there were more votes cast than names on an the attendance sheet, although the petitioners have no exact numbers and can't get copies of the attendance sheet.

"There's really no structure to the voting," Lepine said. "It's like a Gong Show."

The petitioners are concerned the election process failed to use any form of voter registration and a verified voters list, he said.

"This oversight does not support a secure and transparent election process as is used by other democratic governments, and fails to meet the test of election process integrity," Lepine added.

The petition calls for a special assembly, as per the organization's bylaws, to seek confirmation from the executive that the elections were free of any inconsistencies beyond a reasonable doubt.

Hudson said the petitioners are, in general, opposed to him and the former board.

The Metis president said he doesn't think the petition has any legitimacy.

"These elections were not done any differently than in the past," he said.

Plus, he noted there were no objections raised during the assembly, which was attended by about 120 members.

"There was no dispute at the assembly," Hudson said. "Nobody saw anything wrong."

Hudson, who has been president for five years, was re-elected to another two-year term.

The new board consists of vice-president Betty Villebrun, secretary-treasurer Troy Jewell, elder representative Louise Fraser, youth representative Vance Sanderson, and directors Julie Lys, Linda Mabbitt, Lucien Villebrun, Josie Weninger, Donald Bourke and Dorothy Desjarlais.

The election was held by secret ballot, but only the winners' names were announced. The number of votes received by each candidate was not announced and the ballots were destroyed afterwards.

Some of the candidates were elected by acclamation.