Just one in five eligible Cree voters cast a ballot in the Sept. 12 provincial election, according to the final election results.
Of 5,683 eligible voters in the nine Cree communities, only 1,170 marked a ballot, or 21 per cent. That’s down from 26 per cent in the last election, held in 1989.
Whapmagoostui had the lowest rate of voting—3 per cent, or 10 votes cast by the 354 eligible voters.
The overwhelming majority of people in the Cree communities voted for the Liberal Party. The Liberals got 929 votes, or 79 per cent of the total, compared to only 160 for the PQ.
The Inuit communities had a much higher rate of voting, but most still preferred the Liberals. Of4,774 eligible voters, 2,381 cast a ballot, or about half. Two-thirds of these votes went to the Liberals.
Still, the PQ’s Michel Letourneau easily won the vast Ungava riding. He won most of his votes among the 5,366 voters who live in the Hydro camps and the 10,660 voters in the white towns in the southern part of the riding.
