independent native voice, also known as native voice, was a short-lived political party in manitoba, canada. it was created in 1995 to address aboriginal issues, and ran three candidates in the 1995 provincial election. native voice was not registered with elections manitoba, and its candidates were listed on the ballot as independents. after the election, accusations surfaced that native voice was funded by progressive conservative (pc) party organizers to take votes from the new democratic party (ndp) in marginal constituencies. == the election == independent native voice's leader was nelson contois, who contested manitoba's swan river constituency.doug smith, as many liars (winnipeg: arbeiter ring pub., 2003), p. 33. 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, 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.smith, p. 52. sutherland did not join the fpp, and was not in regular contact with 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.smith, pp. 70-71. on april 22, 1995, the winnipeg free press newspaper quoted progressive conservative organizer allan aitken as saying that he had assisted sutherland and 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".alice krueger, "hey? whose side is he on!", winnipeg free press, 22 april 1995, city page. two days later, sutherland told 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.smith, p. 82. the controversy attracted
1995_establishments_in_Manitoba Aboriginal_politics_in_Canada Defunct_political_parties_in_Canada First_Nations_in_Manitoba Indigenist_political_parties Political_parties_established_in_1995 Political_parties_of_minorities Provincial_political_parties_in_Manitoba