Mohawk reserve is a no-vote zone
Non-participation is 'better option'; Many aboriginals believe voting weakens native sovereignty claims
MONTREAL - Unlike other radio talk-show hosts in Canada, Lori Jacobs hasn't been spending much time talking about the federal election campaign.
Jacobs is a host of an open-line talk show on K103.7 FM, a radio station in Kahnawake, a Mohawk reserve of 9,000 across the St. Lawrence River from LaSalle, and a no-election zone.
Although aboriginals have had the right to vote in federal elections since 1960, Kahnawake, like other Mohawk communities, has a policy of not participating in federal or provincial elections. As a result, the May 2 election hasn't figured much into Jacobs's daily programming.
"Nobody votes in Kahnawake," she said.
The one exception was when Jacobs interviewed Roméo Saganash, the New Democratic Party's star candidate in the northern Quebec riding of Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, this month.
After Yvon Lévesque, the Bloc Québécois candidate in the northern riding, suggested voters were unlikely to support Saganash because he is a Cree, Jacobs tracked down Saganash for an on-air interview.
"We wanted to hear why he was running," Jacobs said. "Why he was doing it?"
What Saganash told her audience, Jacobs said, was that he felt he could do more for his people as a member of Parliament. "He wanted to be part of making decisions that would affect his people," she said.
Read more: Mohawk reserve is a no-vote zone
Non-participation is 'better option'; Many aboriginals believe voting weakens native sovereignty claims
MONTREAL - Unlike other radio talk-show hosts in Canada, Lori Jacobs hasn't been spending much time talking about the federal election campaign.
Jacobs is a host of an open-line talk show on K103.7 FM, a radio station in Kahnawake, a Mohawk reserve of 9,000 across the St. Lawrence River from LaSalle, and a no-election zone.
Although aboriginals have had the right to vote in federal elections since 1960, Kahnawake, like other Mohawk communities, has a policy of not participating in federal or provincial elections. As a result, the May 2 election hasn't figured much into Jacobs's daily programming.
"Nobody votes in Kahnawake," she said.
The one exception was when Jacobs interviewed Roméo Saganash, the New Democratic Party's star candidate in the northern Quebec riding of Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, this month.
After Yvon Lévesque, the Bloc Québécois candidate in the northern riding, suggested voters were unlikely to support Saganash because he is a Cree, Jacobs tracked down Saganash for an on-air interview.
"We wanted to hear why he was running," Jacobs said. "Why he was doing it?"
What Saganash told her audience, Jacobs said, was that he felt he could do more for his people as a member of Parliament. "He wanted to be part of making decisions that would affect his people," she said.
Read more: Mohawk reserve is a no-vote zone
