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Alberta First Nations seek gaming policy review
First Nation chiefs in Alberta are requesting a review of the province's First Nations gaming policy, citing concerns over the allocation of casino funds between first nation tribes, host reserves, and the Alberta Lottery Fund.
This fall, the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs voted to re-examine the current policy; specially as it applies to the dispersement of slot machine revenues, which is said to make to account for almost three-quarters of the earnings made by Alberta's five reserve casinos.
“(We) want to go back and re-examine the process and how it’s done,” said Treaty 8 Grand Chief Richard Kappo, chief of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation in northern Alberta.
In its current form, the the policy states that 40% of slot monies go to a First Nations development fund designed for reserve gaming proceeds, after which it is divvied up to allow the five host casinos access to 30% of the cash for their individual projects. After, 10% is given to the province's 39 eligible tribes, and a considerable 30% of the First Nations casino slot revenue is absorbed into the $1.4 billion Alberta Lottery Fund to be handed out for various government initiatives.
“What we’re seeing is First Nations resources are actually being utilized to fuel Alberta’s development,” noted Yale Belanger, a professor of native studies at University of Lethbridge.“It’s nothing more than a very neo-colonial approach during a time when the Canadian government has been promoting reconciliation and improving our relationships with First Nations.”
In a report commissioned by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission to be released this Spring, Belanger contends that the First Nations tribes are right in seeking changes, noting, “In the last four years alone, First Nations casinos have channelled 89.3 times more money to the ALF (Alberta Lottery Fund) than First Nations and Metis organizations drew from it in the past decade.”
Belanger's report was submitted for review this April. In a following interview, Cal Dallas, the minister in charge of the Intergovernmental, International and Aboriginal Relations stated he was “well aware” of the recommendations, but has not announced plans for a formal review. Regardless, Dallas added he is open to speaking to First Nations about “whether we got this right five years ago and whether it’s still the type of formula and still is achieving the means we set out to.”
For more on the matter, including discussions on the success of the First Nations gaming policy and possible resolutions, read the source article by Jamie Komarnicki at the Montreal Gazette.
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