A Liberal party candidate’s use of proxy votes in Whitehorse Centre has brought attention to barriers faced by people who are homeless at election time, and she should be commended for that, says a former chief of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation.

“(Tamara Goeppel) is saying that street people are not treated as fairly as other voters in an election,” Joe Jack told the Star Wednesday.

Jack was chief from 1996 to 1999, and formerly a vice-chair of the Council for Yukon Indians, now the Council of Yukon First Nations.

Voters who recognize the problems with fair treatment, he said, “should get out and support people like that, that are willing to make a difference and, at times, find themselves in hot water because their heart is bigger than their rationale.”

Goeppel came under fire last week for collecting proxy votes for 10 vulnerable people in the downtown riding.

Under the Elections Act, proxy votes are reserved for people who have reason to believe “voting may not be possible because of absence from the Yukon” on election day or advanced polling days.

Goeppel’s actions may have violated the Elections Act, so Elections Yukon has referred the matter to the RCMP. That investigation is ongoing.

The Yukon Liberal Party has condemned Goeppel’s use of proxy votes, with campaign chair Laura Cabott saying the first-time candidate “made a mistake.”

Liz Hanson, the leader of the NDP and the incumbent in Whitehorse Centre, has called on Silver to remove Goeppel as a candidate.

But not everyone is offended by Goeppel’s attempts to involve people who are precariously housed, and who live with addictions and mental health issues, in the election.

“Her bravery to become vulnerable in a political environment in the 11th hour of an election, it says a lot about who she is as a person,” said Jack, who has run federally for both the Liberals and the NDP in the territory.

Goeppel said in an interview this morning it was members of her campaign team who spoke to the 10 vulnerable voters.

All shared the belief that “there is a possibility that they (the voters) would be absent, on voting day,” she told the Star.

Barbara McLeod was one of the Whitehorse Centre constituents asked to be a proxy.

McLeod, who is married to Steve Robertson, a prominent Liberal, was put in touch with the Star Wednesday by Denise MacDonald, a spokesperson for the NDP.

“What we were told was that these were some people who were vulnerable people or perhaps people who had problems with alcoholism that would prevent them for voting,” McLeod said.

“If we had an inkling that we were doing something against the rules, we wouldn’t have agreed to do it.”

It appeared to McLeod that the Goeppel camp believed they were acting within the rules.

“I have dealt with Ms. Goeppel on at least one other matter professionally and I’ve known her to be ethical,” she said.

McLeod doesn’t plan to cast her proxy ballot until the controversy is resolved.

No one can make a judgment about where a specific voter may be on election day, other than the voter herself, said Goeppel.

“It is really in the eyes of the voter, that’s the qualifier, not in your eyes or my eyes or anyone else’s, as to where they believe they are going to be on election day.”

Some voters feel intimidated or afraid, said Goeppel, and in previous elections, those feelings were recognized.

Goeppel said that in past elections, electors had the option of voting at the Salvation Army, “which is a location that is more comfortable for folks.”

That isn’t being done this election.

“We saw the list of accommodating sites like a continuing care facility, one of the senior housing complexes was used, so other segments of society were given accommodation but these people weren’t,” said Goeppel.

Yukoners with no fixed address are permitted to use the Salvation Army as their address when they go to the polls.

It is harder for people in precarious housing situations, and people living with addictions, mental health issues and trauma to participate in the democratic process, said Jack, and it’s discriminatory.

“A lot of these people on the street are certainly the underclass in terms of getting by day to day... almost all people on the street don’t have ID,” he said.

“So what is the most equitable way to have them participate?”

It’s another question citizens should be asking, especially those in favour of electoral reform, he said.

Jack noted that the firestorm that’s erupted around Goeppel’s use of proxy votes signals to him that she’s a contender in the Whitehorse Centre race, which also involves Yukon Party candidate Doug Graham.