Results from the first turn of the 2013 Grand Council Elections were delayed for more than 12 hours by a failure in fibreoptic communications cable north of Matagami on July 15. The failure affected all communications system in the area, including cellphone reception, internet and landline connections.
In an email to Chief Election Officer Lawrence Jimiken, Director of Economic & Sustainable Development for the Cree Regional Authority Alfred Loon alleged that the cut wiring was caused by the Eeyou Communications Network’s (ECN) contracting service, Electro Saga of Lac St-Jean. The accident is believed to have occurred when Electro Saga was deploying cable.
Service was restored in the early morning hours of July 16, but election tallies were not available online until the afternoon of the same day.
Despite rampant theories of conspiracy surrounding the oddly timed accident, it is not believed to have had any effect on election results.
