Is Lubicon Lake's Chief Electoral Officer qualified to be an elector?

Turning now to the decision of the Chief Electoral Officer, it is helpful to review the salient precepts of the customary leadership selection system. To vote, one must be a recognized member of the Lubicon Lake People. As the Chief Electoral Officer observed, however, meeting the criteria for membership set out in the Membership Code is by itself not enough to qualify one as an elector. Once the initial membership list was established, persons eligible for enrollment must be added to the list following the criteria set out in the Membership Code. Deletions from the membership list are similarly to be made pursuant to the criteria set out in the Membership Code. Importantly, persons whose claim to membership is in dispute are entitled to be heard at a hearing before the Chief and Council and, potentially, at a further hearing before the qualified electors of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation. This right to a hearing reflects that, within an autonomous process for electing band governments, minimum standards of natural justice or procedural fairness must still be met. See: Sparvier v. Cowessess Indian Band, 1993 CanLII 2958 (FC), [1993] 3 F.C. 142 (T.D.) at paragraph 48.