Gwich'in to redo grand chief election, despite election committee finding no violations

The Gwich'in Tribal Council is redoing its election for grand chief, despite a committee determining alleged violations in the recent election to be "unfounded."

The election held on Aug. 19 saw Frederick Blake Jr., also known as Sonny Blake, defeat incumbent Ken Kyikavichik with 604 votes to Kyikavichik's 515, according to preliminary results.

The next day, Kyikavichik filed an appeal, alleging four examples of the election's bylaw and policy being violated. 

Those allegations were investigated by the elections committee, which determined them to be unfounded. It recommended the complaint be dismissed.

However, the GTC's board of directors, which has final say, disagreed and found three of the four allegations to have merit. That calls the results of the Aug. 19 election into question, wrote Jamie Koe, CEO of the GTC, in an email to CBC News.

"The board may reject the recommendations of the committee if it finds that the conduct in the complaint is likely to have affected the result of the grand chief election," Koe wrote.

"The board does want to be clear they are not overturning the results of the electorate or attempting to determine a different outcome; however the board did find evidence of violations of the GTC bylaws and policies."

Arlene Hansen, the chief returning officer who is on the elections committee board, says the committee doesn't have any comments on the board's decision. She says the work of her committee is done after making the recommendation.

The election committee is comprised of Hansen and the four deputy returning officers from Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik and Inuvik.

CBC has also reached out to Blake and Kyikavichik.

The allegations

The details of the allegations and the findings were posted on the GTC's Facebook page, as well as to its website. 

Kyikavichik's allegations include the timing of the Gwichya Gwich'in Council's Supreme Court application against the Gwich'in Tribal Council. The application listed allegations including that the GTC unlawfully suspended funding to the Gwichya Gwich'in Council. 

In his complaint, Kyikavichik alleged that the timing of that application on July 12 and social media posts about it were not intended to provide an update but to be "intentionally exaggerated, designed to impair the electorate's view" of him.

The election committee found "no connection" between the court application and a violation of the election bylaw and policy.

Kyikavichik also alleged several people used social media to disparage him.

The election committee found that the posts fell within the scope of allowable campaigning and that, although they were unfavourable toward Kyikavichik, they didn't manipulate "voters in any prohibited sense."

Kyikavichik also alleged Blake's election signs were placed on houses without homeowners' permission and he believes they felt intimidated and feared repercussions if they took them down.

But the elections committee wrote that when they contacted one of the homeowners, that person had indeed asked Blake for a sign. Another didn't want to discuss the matter, and a third didn't respond to the committee.

The election committee found these allegations couldn't be corroborated and the committee couldn't conclude that there had been a violation. 

Kyikavichik also alleged Blake had spent more than the $10,000 that is legally allowed in a campaign. 

The elections committee found it could not reach that conclusion and would need to see "compelling evidence of spending over $10,000 before recommending a result that would nullify the will of the electorate."

Some receipts weren't received until after the report was completed, which found Blake's spending was still under $10,000. One receipt was still missing at the time the committee issued its recommendation.

Board's reasons for disagreeing

The GTC's board of directors, however, determined three of the four allegations did indeed amount to a violation. 

This included the Gwichya Gwich'in Council commencing legal actions against the GTC and issuing news releases about it. 

In its decision, the board wrote that some of the people involved in that court application represented Blake.

The board also determined the social media posts were a violation, as one of those posting was a representative of Blake. 

Finally, the board determined Blake's spending amounts were a violation as he did not provide receipts in time. 

"For the reasons set out above, the board does not accept the elections committee's recommendation that the complaint be dismissed," it wrote.

A summary of the board meeting says both candidates can run again in the next election.

Koe said an election will be held at the "earliest opportunity" and will involve staffing a chief returning officer and deputy returning officers.

The Gwich'in Tribal Council is scheduled to meet again on Oct. 2 and 3 in Inuvik.