News&features Who counts and who Is counted EDITOR STUART NEATBY | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 | THE VOICE 7 elections. SASHA LAKIC PHOTO Getting out the poor vote DTES riding faces greater challenges in voter turnout = By KURTIS GREGORY ith a provincial elec- tion on May 9, various groups and individuals are increasingly con- cerned about political representation for low income people who have his- torically turned out in lower numbers. In the last provincial election in 2013 the voter turn out for the Vancouver- Mount Pleasant riding, in which the Downtown Eastside is located, was just under 50 per cent. Meanwhile Vancouver-Quilchena, which includes Kerrisdale, had a turn out of just under 60 per cent. David Mossop, a retired lawyer who works with the Community Legal As- sistance Society, said the number one issue is low income people often have higher priorities than voting. “They have other priorities, more important priorities - food, housing, in- come,” he said. "They don’t see how the election can affect them and their day to day opera- tions.” Nathan Allen, who has worked ex- tensively to improve voter turn-out in the Downtown Eastside, believes in- forming people of their voter registra- tion options will help more homeless and low-income people vote. Elections BC requires individuals to show proof of residency, which can be difficult for many. “A cheque stub or a bank statement or a health card or even a name on a prescription bottle, all count as one piece of ID,” Allen said. “There is another option that’s worked in campaigns before where a lawyer can sign a statutory declaration and stamp it.” Recent feelings of disenfranchise- ment among certain demographics have led Allen to believe that this election may be different. “T think this election may see that, the outcry around how B.C. is so wealthy in many regards and but has shamefully forgotten younger, lower income voters, I think is turning around and I expect to see higher voter turnout in this elec- tion.” Debra McNaught, an organizer with the Carnegie Community Action Proj- ect, believes that people in the Down- town Eastside are actually more politi- cally inclined than the numbers show. “T am under the impression that peo- ple that live down here are more politi- cally motivated than any other place,” McNaught said. “I think that every time we hold a town hall when there is an election, we get a full house.” Reaching out to Vancouver riding had one of lowest voter turn-outs in 2073 = By EVAN HAGEDORN nadequate campaign outreach and a lack of millennial involvement are to blame for the low voter turn-out in Langara College’s B.C. riding, ac- cording to local poll watchers. In the 2013 provincial election, the Vancouver-Langara riding saw only 50.5 per cent of registered voters turn out for the election, marking the fourth lowest voter participation in Vancouver. The riding extends from Angus Dr. and Granville St. on the west to Fraser St. and Main St. on the east, and is capped by 33 Ave to the north. Langara political science professor Stephen Phillips said the riding has of- ten been seen as a safe riding for the BC Liberal Party, which has resulted in low campaign competitiveness. “One of the factors is how competi- tive the election race is in a local riding traditionally,” said Phillip. “Based on past performance, the turnout will be lower in safe seats. “As a result [the parties] put less ef- fort into their campaigns,” he said. This trend isn’t anything new as in the 2013 provincial elections, only 48 per cent of young people ages 18 to 24 voted. Simka Marshall, chair of the BC Federation of Students, is working to ensure that voter turn out among youth rises this year. She said that ensuring polling sta- tions are located in convenient locations for youth and students is a priority for her organization. “Voting happens this year in May, yn a he youth vote STUART NEATBY PHOTO when a lot of students are off campus so that can be a challenge,” said Marshall, “These are some of the things that on our end we are keeping in mind to make sure... that we are sending out the proper information so that students know where and when to vote.” A student walks past a transit ad encouraging voter turn out on May 9. Wayne Collinge, Elections BC’s district electoral officer for Vancouver- Langara, hopes an increase in advance voting days will encourage young voters to show up. The B.C. election will be held on May 9. More First Nation candidates across B.C. But aboriginal people still under-represented by all parties = By DUNCAN ANDERSON ile there may be an increase of First Nations candidates running in B.C.'s May 9 provincial election, some say they are still underrepresented as candidates for all major parties. Between the BC _ Liberals, the BCNDP, and the BC Green Party, seven First Nations candidates are run- ning, far more for all parties than in the 2013 election. This accounts for rough- ly 2.5 per cent of all candidates running in B.C. According to Statistics Canada, five per cent of B.C.’s population is of aboriginal descent. Melanie Mark an NDP MLA, was the first First Nations woman to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of B.C. She was elected in February of 2016 to represent the riding of Van- couver-Mount Pleasant. Mark, who is of Gitxsan, Ojibway, Cree, and Nisga’a descent, is also the only current First Nation MLA in the legislature. “T think that it is interesting there is more than 1,” Mark said, referring to the number of First Na- tions candidates. “There are 87 seats in the legisla- ture. So of course it would be nice to see more represenation Mary Jane Joe sn the levislature.” ELOER-IN-RESIDENCE in & : LANGARA Ntle’kepmx elder and Aboriginal Studies Langara faculty member Mary Jane Joe thinks it is a huge commitment to run. “It costs money. To be campaigning and to get your face known before even a nomination is a huge commitment,” Joe said. “It’s a tremendous uphill battle for aboriginals.” Former Haisla Chief Councillor Ellis Ross is a candidate for the BC Liberal Party in the riding of Skeena. He believes that First Nations need to work more with B.C's oil and gas industry. "The number one reason why I ran is that [liquid natural gas] had so much opposition and I don’t think they had enough strong voices from the north saying this is actually needed," he said. “There is a lot of fear-mongering out there and a lot of information given out of context.” Mark is more cautious about the drive to extract LNG. She points out that indigenous people have been living off the land for longer than anyone else in the history of Canada. “For indigenous people, we wouldn't be here if we couldn’t survive off the land,” said Mark. “The fight in the courts for environ- mental justice is in our blood.” Ross and Mark both agree that polit- ical parties should invest more in court- ing First Nations candidates. "There is not enough First Nations. First Nations’ interests have risen to the top in the last 10-15 years, but that hasn’t been represented in any type of government system - local, regional or federal," said Ross.