COO and Ontario enter into agreement for distribution of provincial gaming revenues
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS and CHIEFS OF ONTARIO press release ...
Chiefs In Ontario And The Province Forging A New Relationship - Improving Quality of Life In First Nations Communities Across The Province
THUNDER BAY, ON, Feb. 7 /CNW/ - First Nations Chiefs from across Ontario voted in favour of an historic agreement today that will result in improvements in quality of life and will strengthen First Nations communities in Ontario.
The agreement, worth over $3 billion, draws on provincial gaming revenues and will provide the long-term revenue that First Nations can use to invest in improvements in quality of life and to help strengthen their communities.
"I have been working hard, along with Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse, and the Chiefs of Ontario to make this agreement happen, and we are all looking forward to the positive changes this will mean for First Nations communities across the province," said Michael Bryant, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
"Working with Minister Bryant to get this agreement ratified has been a lot of hard work, but ultimately this is a success story for both the province and First Nations communities," said Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse.
First Nations communities will receive $201 million immediately, which would also help to address socio-economic challenges in their communities.
The new agreement is based on an Agreement-in-Principle signed by the province and First Nations in March 2006.
This builds on the McGuinty government's New Approach to Aboriginal Affairs, emphasizing a cooperative relationship between the Ontario government and First Nations.
"We have reached an historic agreement with our First Nations partners," said Bryant. "Through strengthening our commitment to a new relationship with First Nations, we are moving towards a better understanding of each other, and towards an exciting future."
"This agreement will have extraordinary long-term effects for First Nations communities, allowing them to invest more in the vital services they need," said Toulouse.
/For further information: Greg Crone, Minister's Office, (416) 606-8562 (Cell); Ann Lehman, Communications Branch, (416) 326-4759; Pam Hunter, Chiefs of Ontario, (613) 203-3233/
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Jackpot: First Nations earn share of lotto profits; New revenue sharing deal 'good and bad news' - Nipissing chief
February 8, 2008
Ontario's aboriginal communities are getting more than $3 billion over the next 25 years for community health care, education and infrastructure as part of a new deal to share revenue from provincial lotteries and casinos.
The Chiefs of Ontario announced Thursday they had ratified the deal, which gives 134 aboriginal communities an immediate payment of $201 million and a 1.7 per cent cut of provincial gaming revenues starting in 2011.
In return, the chiefs have agreed to abandon an ongoing lawsuit regarding taxes collected from Casino Rama, near Orillia, and will in 2011 give up altogether their rights to the casino's revenues.
The deal, which will see Nipissing First Nation get $1 million, is "good and bad news," says Chief Marianna Couchie.
"We have been waiting for this for a while. The provincial government held back 20 per cent of all Casino Rama funds designated for First Nation communities and that was a much higher figure. So it is good news but also bad news."
But Couchie believes the payment of $201 million is a far cry from the near $1 billion she said has been held in escrow through the collection of a 20 per cent "win tax," imposed on Casino Rama in 1996 by the former Conservative government.
"It's not to the extent of what the government had held back from us," she said. "A lot of the chiefs thought this was a good deal and you have to go with the majority."
Couchie is pleased her community will have the ability to use 15 per cent as it sees fit.
"So we could use it for infrastructure, housing or a variety of different projects," she said.
"It does mean we have extra flexibility with moneys that do come to us and we do have a longer term agreement with the government which is good, but to lose all the money that the Ontario government held back on us . . . is a big loss."
The agreement, the first of its kind in Canada, ends three years of negotiations and follows a failed deal last summer.
"It's been a marathon," Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant said from Thunder Bay, where the negotiations took place. "It's a historic agreement . . . (It's) a jump-start to helping to assist the living conditions in First Nations."
Under the current deal, which expires in 2011, some aboriginal communities get a cut of the revenue generated by Casino Rama, which works out to an average of $60 million a year. This deal doubles their annual revenue share to about $120 million a year, starting in 2011.
It's up to the individual aboriginal communities to decide how that money is spent, Bryant said.
Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse of the Assembly of First Nations said the deal finally gives aboriginal communities some long-term stability over the next 25 years. It is also more flexible than the previous proposal which dictated how the money should be spent, he said.
Some communities will spend the money on funding traditional approaches to mental health while others will focus on bolstering education and improving infrastructure, he said.