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18-583: Independent Native Voice's leader was Nelson Contois, who contested Manitoba's Swan River constituency. The other candidates were Nelson's daughter Carey Contois in Dauphin , and Darryl Sutherland in Interlake . Independent Native Voice was one of two unregistered parties to focus on aboriginal issues in the 1995 campaign. The other was the First Peoples Party (FPP) led by Jerry Fontaine ,

36-479: Is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba . It was created in 1903, in what was then the northwestern corner of the province. Manitoba's borders expanded significantly in 1912, and Swan River is now located in the centre of the province, close to its western border with Saskatchewan. The division has seen several redistributions. The riding is bordered to the north by The Pas , to

54-535: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) interviewed Sutherland and ran an exposé of his candidacy on June 22, 1998. This story, and subsequent follow-up reports, included accusations by Sutherland that Progressive Conservative organizers were guilty of vote-rigging and inducement in the 1995 campaign. The resulting scandal became a political flashpoint in the province. A Winnipeg Free Press article from June 24 noted that Sutherland

72-601: The Interlake Spectator that he had accepted help from Progressive Conservative organizers early in the campaign, but later distanced himself from these figures. He said that his candidacy was legitimate. The controversy attracted relatively little attention during the campaign. Independent Native Voice fared poorly as a party, receiving a total of 518 votes. Nelson Contois received 118 votes (1.36%), Carey Contois received 111 (1.15%) and Sutherland received 289 (3.90%). The NDP won all three constituencies, although

90-830: The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba , Canada. The New Democratic Party (NDP) was returned to government after sitting in opposition since the 1988 election . The NDP won 32 seats, against 24 for the Progressive Conservative Party . The Manitoba Liberal Party won one seat. The Manitoba PC Party declined in popularity due to unpopular budget cuts on the healthcare system, social programs, and civil servants. The budget cuts on Public Service employees resulted in "Filmon Fridays" where civil servants had to take 10 unpaid days off each year. A vote splitting scandal has also hurt

108-619: The Contoises after declaring his candidacy. According to later reports, Sutherland told Jerry Fontaine during the campaign that Progressive Conservative organizers had promised him at least $ 3,000 to declare his candidacy. Fontaine encouraged Sutherland to take his story to the media, though Sutherland did not do so at the time. On April 22, 1995, the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper quoted Progressive Conservative organizer Allan Aitken as saying that he had assisted Sutherland and

126-503: The Contoises in setting up their campaigns. He said he only wanted to ensure "everyone ha[d] an equal shot at running", and denied suggestions that his actions contravened provincial law. Bill Uruski , a former NDP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), was quoted in the same article as speculating that Aitken's assistance was a ploy "to undermine NDP support in the native communities". Two days later, Sutherland told

144-683: The Manitoba PC Party's reputation when the Independent Native Voice Party was claimed to be funded by the PC Caucus in attempt to take away votes from the NDP during the 1995 election. Party code: Boldface denotes incumbent. Expenditures refer only to candidate election expenses. Eric Stefanson (PC) resigned as the member for Kirkfield Park on September 7, 2000. A by-election was called for November 21 of

162-548: The Progressive Conservatives came within thirty-six votes of winning Swan River. Provincially, the Progressive Conservatives under Gary Filmon were re-elected with their second consecutive majority government . The NDP registered a complaint with Elections Manitoba concerning the Native Voice candidacies, but no charges were laid. Following extensive journalistic work by reporter Curt Petrovich ,

180-462: The Tories for the first time since 1990. This riding has elected the following MLAs : 52°48′07″N 100°13′41″W  /  52.802°N 100.228°W  / 52.802; -100.228 1999 Manitoba general election Gary Filmon Progressive Conservative Gary Doer New Democratic The 1999 Manitoba general election was held on September 21, 1999 to elect Members of

198-417: The average family income was $ 35,209, and the unemployment rate was 10.70%. Twenty-eight per cent of the riding's residents are listed as low income, and over 25% of the population has less than a Grade Nine education (the third-highest rate in the province). Thirty-six per cent of the riding's residents are aboriginal, and 10% are Ukrainian . Agriculture accounts for 22% of Swan River's economy, followed by

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216-486: The behaviour of Conservative organizers as "unethical" and "morally reprehensible". Monnin's inquiry did not conclude that the Contois candidacies were induced by Progressive Conservative organizers, although suspicions remained. Premier Filmon was not implicated in the scandal. No charges were filed against Barrett and Aitken, as the statute of limitations for illegal inducement had expired after two years. Referring to

234-408: The end of June, in response to mounting evidence of improper behaviour. Monnin ruled that local Progressive Conservative organizers were guilty of inducing at least one candidate (Sutherland) to contest the election. Senior party organizer Taras Sokolyk was personally implicated, when it was discovered that he had channelled party funds to Aitken during the campaign. In his summary, Monnin described

252-400: The health and service sector at 12%. Swan River's political identity has undergone a significant change in recent years. It was represented by the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba continuously for all but one term from 1932 to 1988, and was generally regarded as safe for the party during this period. The current MLA is Rick Wowchuk , who was elected in 2016, returning the seat to

270-448: The nephew of future Canadian Assembly of First Nations leader Phil Fontaine . The FPP had no formal association with Independent Native Voice, and was not implicated in the post-election controversy. Nelson and Carey Contois nevertheless affiliated with the FPP in mid-campaign, and ran with endorsements from both parties. Sutherland did not join the FPP, and was not in regular contact with

288-434: The scandal in 1998, Jerry Fontaine argued that "the Tories took advantage of Aboriginal individuals who weren't all that involved in political issues or political life". The scandal contributed to the defeat of Filmon's government in the 1999 election . Independent Native Voice ceased to exist after 1995. All electoral information is taken from Elections Manitoba . Swan River (electoral district) Swan River

306-407: The south by Dauphin-Roblin , to the east by Lake Winnipeg and to the west by the province of Saskatchewan . Lake Winnipegosis runs through the riding. The community of Swan River is located in the riding's southwest corner. Other communities in the riding include Birch River , Ethelbert , Minitonas , Camperville and Winnipegosis . The riding's population in 1996 was 19,639. In 1999,

324-492: Was receiving $ 111 bi-weekly in welfare payments at the time of the election, yet contributed almost $ 5,000 to his own campaign chest. On the same day, Sutherland named local Progressive Conservative organizer Cubby Barrett as the source of his funds. Premier Filmon initially rejected these reports, and said that he trusted Elections Manitoba more than the CBC. He nonetheless called a public inquiry under judge Alfred Monnin before

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