Elections Canada apologizes to Nunavik voters left out of vote

Samuel Wat · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 8:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 1

Elections Canada has apologized to voters successful Nunavik who were incapable to formed a ballot successful Monday's national election.

CBC News has heard from residents successful respective Nunavik communities who reported issues astatine polling stations, including immoderate that closed aboriginal oregon didn't unfastened astatine all.

Earlier this week, Elections Canada said atrocious upwind affected flights for workers, and they struggled with section recruitment. 

"I profoundly regret that immoderate electors successful Nunavik were not capable to formed their vote. To them, I apologize," said main electoral officer Stéphane Perrault in a written connection connected Wednesday.

According to Makivvik president Pita Aatami, 9 of Nunavik's 14 villages did not person section polling staff, truthful Elections Canada had to alert radical successful from elsewhere. That led to polls successful galore of those villages closing early. 

"It showed america however Inuit were made to consciousness similar their close to ballot was taken distant from them … the contented has to beryllium resolved earlier the adjacent election," helium said successful Inuktitut.

Perrault's connection says that implicit the past 3 years, Elections Canada has made it a precedence to region barriers to voting services for Indigenous electors.

"Nevertheless, the shortcomings of our services successful Nunavik during the wide predetermination underscore the value of the enactment that remains," helium said. 

"Elections Canada volition reappraisal the circumstances that led to this situation, arsenic good arsenic the measures taken during this predetermination to amended voting services to Indigenous electors. We volition people the findings."

Fair and adjacent entree for each Indigenous communities

Mandy Gull-Masty, the caller MP for Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou, said she was fielding calls from radical successful Nunavik passim predetermination day. She said she's gathered those complaints and submitted them to the compliance officer. 

Now that she's elected, Gull-Masty said she would enactment toward introducing a measure to Parliament to code immoderate of the shortcomings that mightiness travel from the Elections Canada report. 

Two issues basal retired to her already: the engagement with locals to assistance astatine polling stations, and the deficiency of connection successful Indigenous languages. 

"People request to travel to the assemblage sooner. There needs to beryllium much engagement with the section municipal offices. There are a batch of firm secretaries that person acquisition successful moving an election," she said. 

"The usage of connection would region truthful galore barriers for truthful galore people. Having entree to accusation successful their ain written language, not conscionable Nunavik but besides [elsewhere] like Eeyou Istchee. We person a batch of radical fluent successful Cree and bash not talk English and French."

Some voters CBC News spoke to besides said determination were nary beforehand polls successful their communities, and they were not alert of any recruitment thrust for getting locals connected board. 

Mail-in issues

The voting issues weren't conscionable constricted to polling stations. 

Some Nunavik residents, similar precocious schoolhouse teacher Taylor Adams, didn't person their peculiar ballots by mail despite having applied weeks anterior to the deadline. 

"All of our message comes from Montreal … I deliberation the earliest we tin get message from Montreal is mostly astir 3 weeks," the Puvirnituq nonmigratory said.

"I conscionable thought that possibly with the predetermination they would person immoderate benignant of an explicit postage system, if it said 'Elections Canada' connected the ballot."

Once an elector's exertion for a peculiar ballot is approved, they're incapable to ballot different way, specified arsenic in-person astatine beforehand polls, according to Elections Canada.

For those who did get their peculiar ballots, Adams besides wonders whether they would person adjacent made it backmost to Elections Canada successful clip for the count. 

"People already person a fearfulness of the systems that are successful spot and this truly doesn't help," Adams said.

Forty-six per cent of registered electors successful Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou voted successful the 2025 national election. That is astir successful enactment with the turnout successful 2021, and below the 2025 nationalist complaint of 68 per cent.