For over a week Charmaine Stick has been holding a hunger strike at the entrance of Onion Lake Cree Nation, which is about 50 kilometres north of Lloydminster. She is holding the strike in protest of the re-election of Chief Wallace Fox. She is living in a tent; and drinking only water and tea while on strike.
Fox won by 124 votes, but Stick says that there were voting irregularities. The Band that they have completed certified voting audits. Stick says that half of the band supports her in the strike.
“It is not my body that gives me the strength to sit here and do what I do. The strength I get is from [my heart] and from my fellow people who are here to support me,” says Stick.
Stick’s strike is also in protest of what she says is a lack of communication and accountability over royalties that oil field operations.
“I stand by my word and I am transparent to my Peoples of Onion Lake…. I treat all my members with respect and open the books to those that wish to see what our Nation is doing at any given time," says Fox in a press release.
The strike is causing a significant rift in the community as Fox is Stick’s uncle, and the conflict is causing a divide in the family.
“I have to take criticism, putdowns, and dirty looks from my other fellow family members and it’s not easy,” Stick says while crying. “It hurts me that I have to speak against my own uncle.”
Stick’s supporters do worry about her health, but say they will continue to support her protest.
The Band hosts information sessions before each fiscal budget cycle ends in March. After three days of information sessions expenditures are reviewed and endorsed by band members at a general meeting.
