With less than a week left, all the major political parties have released their platforms on aboriginal affairs. Each platform sets forth great promises intended to "fix" the "aboriginal problem". However, there is one promise that has eluded the final drafts of all the platforms, votes for non-aboriginals living on native reserves.

If someone is a full-time resident of a municipality, voting rights are assumed. Under aboriginal governance however, non-aboriginals living on reserves have no democratic right to participate in the local political community, even though they may pay property taxes to the local native band.

Since 1884, under what was called the Indian Advancement Act, band councils have had the power to tax the real property of all band members on reserves. This was later incorporated into the Indian Act under section 83, in 1951. To date, most of this revenue is created by taxing non-aboriginal businesses operating on reserves and non-aboriginals living on reserves. All taxation occurs to increase native government revenues.

Under section 83 of the Indian Act, native bands may collect property taxes, and fees and levies from non-aboriginal leaseholders residing on reserve land and from non-aboriginal businesses operating on reserves. Native bands that exercise this right use the monies collected to fund a variety of public works, community projects and services that benefit the entire reserve community - aboriginal and non-aboriginal alike.

On some reserves, non-aboriginals exist in greater numbers than aboriginals. Voting rights are not extended to the non-aboriginals due to the fear that if non-aboriginals were granted the right to vote, they may vote en masse and swamp the governing band council.

Aboriginal governments may bestow the right to vote to non-aboriginals and provide them with "citizenship", as is the case within the Nisga'a Treaty. But as of yet, no such "citizenships" have been granted.

Since it is a fundamental right for citizens to participate in meaningful decision-making in Canada, some bands have established advisory boards as a means to allow for non-aboriginal participation. For example, the Sechelt reserve, located on British Columbia's west coast, provides an advisory council for non-aboriginal residents. It will be interesting to see in the long-run if it offers an adequate form of participation for non-aboriginals, or if it simply serves as a means to pacify.
This issue is not isolated to British Columbia. According to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, as of March 31, 2002 there were 491 specific land claims under review in Canada. Given the trend towards increasing the scope and depth of powers of native governance, this is an issue that may affect tens of thousands of Canadians now, and even more so in the future.

It is ironic that politicians traveling the country to solicit votes have ignored the lack of votes for certain reserve residents. To be clear, granting non-aboriginals voting rights on reserves would not entitle them explicitly to benefits negotiated for aboriginals themselves, (i.e., cash transfers from other levels of government). It would however, grant voting rights in a manner that is standard in any other jurisdiction in Canada.