Nelson goes Iran or bust-up after referendum postponed
WINNIPEG SUN
Former Roseau River chief Terry Nelson is asking Iran for help with the governance issues on his and other First Nations.
A referendum on how Roseau River chooses its leaders was postponed Thursday. Aboriginal Affairs said it needed more time to work with the community, which has been plagued by issues at the ballot box.
When the news came down Thursday, Nelson decided to lead a caravan of cars to the Iranian embassy in Ottawa in about two weeks. He plans to thank Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his condemnation of Canada's treatment of aboriginal people, and ask him for help in bringing attention to the issue of missing and murdered women.
"I am not going to spend my time trying to get the immigrant governments to hear our plight, it is time to ask other nations to investigate and support us directly," he wrote.
"Ottawa police and RCMP are just going to have beat women, children and men to keep us from attending to the embassies."
The reserve's custom council, a formal governing body, ousted the five-term, controversial chief on Sept. 20. The council called another election, in which Ken Henry was elected Oct. 14. The reserve has customarily run elections by the council code, not the Indian Act.
The referendum would ask about 1,400 eligible Roseau River voters how they want their elections called: by the custom council, or by the Indian Act.
"I don't want violence to be the only option left for my community, they should have had a simple referendum to allow the people to decide but now what options do the people have?" Nelson asked.
On Feb. 1, a federal judge ruled Henry's election was legitimate, which raised speculation that the referendum might be moot. Aboriginal Affairs is waiting for a final court decision as well as feedback from the community before proceeding.
"A Third Party Manager is currently in place and will ensure that this ongoing governance dispute does not interfere in the delivery of essential programs and services to the community’s residents," an Aboriginal Affairs spokesperson said in an e-mail.
Nelson's also challenging the election in court, though a date has not yet been set.
"The Americans are going to kill me for this, in the media and otherwise but this issue will not be ignored. If Harper thinks that Attawapiskat was bad, he has not yet seen me in action," Nelson said in the release.
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