Alberta First Nations mobilize 'Rock the Vote' campaign ahead of October referendum

First Nations leaders in Alberta are turning to a campaign that delivered record on-reserve voter turnout in 2015, hoping to replicate that success when Albertans vote on separation October 19.

Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi of Treaty 8 First Nations told reporters the Indigenous Rock the Vote campaign achieved the highest on-reserve participation in a federal election since Elections Canada began tracking it in 2004. That year, on-reserve voting in Alberta jumped to 56.6 per cent, up from 33.3 per cent in 2011.

"We have to get our people out to vote and we have to campaign," Mercredi said. "Our nations and our rights and our resources are not to be traded around."

One major barrier: many Indigenous people lack civic addresses on-reserve or the required ID to vote. Tania Cameron, who created the original 2015 campaign from her living room with no budget or political backing, developed an ID toolkit using Elections Canada's guidance and hosted registration drives across the country.

Cameron is now offering to help Alberta First Nations. She said the campaign will require community education in the months ahead to explain what's at stake, plus volunteers and training. But the track record is solid. "If it was done once, it can be done again," she said. "This could be huge."

Edmonton has the second-highest Indigenous population in any Canadian urban centre, while Calgary has the fourth, according to Statistics Canada.