Casino "deal" for Ontario First Nations - sharing lottery & casino revenue
Natives benefit in casino deal
By CHINTA PUXLEY - June 14, 2007
TORONTO (CP) - Ontario's aboriginal communities could get $2.5 billion over the next 20 years for community health care, education and infrastructure under a new proposed deal to share revenue from provincial lotteries and casinos.
Provincial negotiators say the deal, if ratified by Ontario chiefs when they put it to a vote June 18, would be the first agreement of its kind in Canada since it gives 133 aboriginal communities a cut of the province's gaming revenue.
The deal would also give First Nations representation on the board of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., giving them a say in how the organization is run. Ontario chiefs would in turn agree to drop an ongoing lawsuit against the province regarding casino revenues.
"This is a huge deal," said former Ontario Liberal premier David Peterson, the province's chief negotiator.
"It's a big, big, big pile of money. It's a flow of money into these communities the likes of which they haven't had. It's stable. They can count on it for education, for water, for all the things that are so important in the communities."
Under the current deal, which expires in 2011, some aboriginal communities get a cut of the revenue generated by Casino Rama near Orillia, Ont., which works out to an average of $60 million a year.
Under the proposed agreement, the 133 aboriginal communities would get a cut of all the provincial cash that comes from gaming, essentially doubling their annual revenue share to about $125 million.
Communities would get $112 million immediately upon signing the deal.
"This is groundbreaking," said Peterson, who has been negotiating the deal since February 2005. "It is a brand new partnership with the aboriginal communities. . . . I think the rest of the country can look at this and say this is something we can be very proud of."
Sharing gaming revenue has been a thorny issue for governments of all stripes in Ontario. Casino Rama was originally set up as a First Nations Casino with revenue going to communities within the Ontario First Nations Limited Partnership.
A 20 per cent "win tax" - imposed on Casino Rama by the former Conservative government in 1996 - prompted several lawsuits from aboriginal communities and Ontario chiefs, claiming the government was not entitled to a cut of the casino profits.
Harvey Yesno, chair of the First Nations partnership, said chiefs are split on whether they want to continue with the lawsuit or settle for a stable source of revenue.
"This deal is not a slam dunk by any stretch," said Yesno, adding it has to be approved by a two-thirds majority. "There are some serious concerns. There is going to be a debate."
Some chiefs feel the $2.5 billion isn't that much when they look at how much the province rakes in from its lotteries and casinos, he said.
The cash communities have received from the current agreement has been put to good use and has been used to leverage even more money for community centres and health promotion, Yesno said.
Other chiefs, however, are looking for more than just money, he added.
"This is just one more source of revenue," Yesno said. "It's also about the relationship between the province and the First Nations. That's part and parcel of the whole arrangement."
David Ramsay, minister responsible for aboriginal affairs, said he knows chiefs have mixed feelings about the proposed deal because some would like aboriginals to have complete jurisdiction over gaming in Ontario.
But Ramsay said he's still hopeful the deal will be ratified since the money would make a huge difference to the province's aboriginal communities.
"It's really badly needed money and I hope there is a positive outcome," he said.
New Democrat Gilles Bisson said $2.5 billion is little more than an easy way for the province to avoid costly lawsuits.
It may sound like a lot of money, but Bisson said it doesn't make up for the cash taken over the last decade by the province through the win tax, nor does it address the desperate need of many aboriginal communities.
Over 60 northern aboriginal communities don't have potable water and most don't have adequate sewer systems or proper housing, he said.
"People need to understand that $2.5 billion over 20 years is a drop in the bucket towards the needs of those communities," he said. "This is obviously needed money but it doesn't undo the damage that's been done up until now."