| Stoney Nakoda First Nation elder Gerald Powderface has heard all the arguments in favour of a glitzy new casino that his First Nation plans to build at the intersection of the TransCanada and Kananaskis Country. He knows that many members are counting on the promise of new jobs and a stronger economy. He’s heard people say the First Nation has to move into the 21st century.
But when he thinks about the casino Powderface envisions increased alcohol addiction, problem gambling and more violence on his reserve, and he questions what his nation is getting into.
Alberta is about to see another large-scale expansion in gambling, this time led by First Nations governments that are betting on casinos to kick-start economic development on poor reserves. Concerns from aboriginal members such as Powderface are shared by gambling researchers, who point out that aboriginal people have a much higher problem gambling rate than the average in Alberta.
There are currently seven First Nations bands across the province that are close to getting approval for casino projects. Enoch Cree Nation, just outside Edmonton, has already started building a $177.6 million casino resort. Tsuu T’ina First Nation, on the southwest edge of Calgary, is hoping to have a $30-million, 70,000-square-foot casino complex built by next fall. There are also projects proposed on the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation north of Edmonton, the Cold Lake First Nation near Cold Lake, and the Louis Bull/Montana First Nation and the Samson Cree Nation, both near Hobbema in central Alberta.
Stoney Nakoda First Nation was planning to break ground on its $27-million, 110,000-square-foot casino complex this summer. But a group of protesters, including Powderface, erected a teepee and blocked roads to prevent the ground-breaking ceremony from happening. The nation is now attempting to get a court injunction to prevent protesters from further interfering with construction of the casino complex. Three aboriginal elders who were part of the protest have hired a lawyer and plan to argue that the proposed site of the casino is on land traditionally held by their family and therefore it shouldn’t be allowed to go ahead. Protesters also claim that a referendum on the casino, in which 75 per cent of voters supported the casino, is invalid. The matter will be heard in Court of Queen’s Bench on September 15.
The high cost of casinos
Powderface, who is the son of Frank Powderface, a Stoney Nakoda chief for 24 years, describes gambling on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation as "really serious, silently creeping up into peoples’ doings here."
He has seen first-hand the powerful hold gambling has over many members.
"Come evening time they have to go to a casino or bingo hall. They have to. They’re jumpy. They’re hyper," he says. "They won’t be home during the evenings with their families. Some don’t even have a babysitter. They just leave everything to the oldest child…. Another thing is people are taking their stuff to the pawn shop and they’re out of everything…. children are missing school because the parents or whoever never get home until 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning because the casino closes at 3 o’clock."
The Stoney Nakoda casino project, called the Nakoda Entertainment Resort, will include a casino with 300 slot machines and 15 gaming tables, a 90-room hotel with a restaurant, bar and conference/banquet facilities, and a water park with a swimming pool and spa/fitness centre. The three Stoney Nakoda bands will jointly own the casino: Chiniki, Wesley and Bearspaw ,which combined have 4,000 members.
Powderface is also concerned about the 175-person capacity bar. Right now the Stoney Nakoda First Nation is dry, meaning no alcohol is allowed on any of its three reserves.
"It’s gonna be a total disaster," says Powderface. "There’ll be alcohol and they’ll be thinking it’s open and free. Everybody’s allowed now."
He says violence is already increasing on the reserve and it’s fuelled by alcohol in many cases. Powderface is intimately acquainted with such violence – his nephew was recently killed after getting attacked with a baseball bat.
Marty Wildman, a Stoney Nakoda band member, shares Powderface’s concerns about the casino and bar.
"Awhile ago, child welfare was taking a lot of the kids in Calgary because parents were leaving their kids outside the bingo halls or casino halls late at night so they can gamble. People from Stoney they have a gambling addiction, they have a drinking problem, they have a drug problem," says Wildman. "There’s a whole bunch of issues that have to be dealt with and yet they’re putting something that’s a problem to the reserve right smack in the middle of it…. I always said if that casino goes up I’m going to open myself up a pawnshop. People need money to go play. People have pawned everything from their kids’ Xboxes to their Nintendos, anything to go gamble. Why drive to Calgary when you can walk to the casino?"
Betting on the benefits
The issue has caused a split in the community. Many First Nations members also told Fast Forward that they support the plan.
Pernell Daniels says the nation needs more jobs and economic development and he says the money generated could be pumped into much needed social programs.
"I’d say it should benefit the reserve. It should help…. I think we do need more money from the casino to help some of these people with alcohol and suicide problems," he says. "We’re not back in the 1900s or 1800s anymore. We’re in the 2000s now…. It’s time to move ahead and help our younger generation do the same thing because I see a lot of young people suffering and I don’t like it."
Luna Labelle agrees with Daniels, saying those protesting the casino aren’t thinking enough about the needs of young people.
"They’re not thinking about other people who do need employment, jobs and money to help them out with their families and loves ones in the future," he says.
None of the three chiefs from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation returned phone calls to Fast Forward. But chief financial officer Su-hin Chee points out that First Nations casinos are certainly nothing new in North America.
"The casino is not something new that we dreamed up….. We’ve gone down and looked at (U.S. aboriginal casinos) and they have been very successful in creating income and employment, and we also looked at social issues out there and we find that the First Nations in the States have been able to cope with those social issues. A lot of the fears in Canada seem to be exaggerated," says Chee.
The provincial government has an agreement with the First Nations where 40 per cent of the profit from slot machines in aboriginal casinos will go to a new First Nations Development Fund. The fund will provide money to all First Nations in the province for economic, social and community projects, including addictions programs, health programs and infrastructure.
"We get to keep a fair amount of the revenue," says Chee. "The revenue generated will help offset a decline in oil and gas royalties," says Chee. "Most of this money will be spent on social programs, education."
Chee also estimates that Stoney Nakoda members will be eligible to fill close to 200 jobs at the casino complex, and says the casinos will draw on more than just the local market because it will feature Las Vegas-style entertainment and a First Nations theme.
The Tsuu T’ina First Nation plans to build its casinos at the site of the former Currie Barracks at the corner of Glenmore Trail and 37th Street S.W. Like the Stoney Nakoda project, the Tsuu T’ina casino complex will be a destination resort with a hotel and Las Vegas-style entertainment.
The Tsuu T’ina project has garnered less public opposition than the Stoney Nakoda one. Paulsen argues the two proposals are different because the Stoney Nakoda proposal is on a rural reserve whereas the Tsuu T’ina casino will be right next to the city. Paulsen adds that Tsuu T’ina residents, who live right outside the city’s southwest city limits, already have the option of going to five casinos in Calgary.
But Warren Crowchild, a Tsuu T’ina member, questions whether casinos will be the economic panacea for First Nations.
"There are other gambling facilities in the city, plus the VLTs, so why are you throwing this out there?" asks Crowchild. "All we hear in the media is the pros, the good stuff, we never hear the bad stuff…. I don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future. I just go with what my heart tells me and my heart tells me there’s a better way you could have a spinoff economically than a casino."
Gambling on the future
You only have to look to Saskatchewan to see the allure of casinos for First Nations. That province currently has four aboriginal casinos, and two more have been approved. Tom Semaganis, director of public relations for the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, which runs the casinos, says aboriginal casinos employ 1,100 staff and the two new casinos will create another 700 jobs — 70 per cent of those jobs are filled by aboriginal or Metis people. Last year the four casinos generated over $100 million in total revenue.
However, gambling researchers aren’t convinced that casinos are the solution to First Nations economic woes.
"The problem is that to some extent (Alberta First Nations) are basing how successful it will be on some American tribes and what they’ve done. It’s not the same situation…. In the U.S. for the most part (First Nations casinos) are the only ones that are allowed," says gambling researcher Garry Smith. "(In Alberta) there’s already 16 casinos and they’re adding more, so, they’re coming into a situation where there’s tremendous competition, so there’s no guarantee they’ll be successful."
But the biggest cause for concern is the increased potential for problem gambling.
"Our research clearly shows that aboriginal people are at heightened risk of developing a gambling problem proportionate to other groups in our population," says gambling expert Harold Wynne, who has conducted studies looking at problem gambling in jurisdictions across Canada. "Our research has shown that here in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Research in other provinces has shown the same thing."
Smith adds, "It’s potentially dangerous. You’re going to be addicting your own people or making the situation worse for them."
A 2002 study of gambling in Saskatchewan conducted for the provincial government found that 12 per cent of aboriginal gamblers were considered problem gamblers and 34.7 per cent were considered at risk of becoming problem gamblers. In Alberta, a 2002 Alberta Gaming Research Institute study on gambling found that 9.6 per cent of the province’s aboriginals were problem gamblers and another 26.9 per cent were at risk of becoming problem gamblers.
Robert Williams is the lead researcher on a new study of aboriginal gambling in Alberta that is due to be released this month.
"Some of the numbers are actually kind of shocking…. kinda hard to believe," he says.
For example, on the Kainaiwa (Blood) Nation south of Calgary, Williams says that out of a random sampling of 90 people on the reserve, roughly 25 per cent could be characterized as severe problem gamblers.
"You do have to be concerned about the fact that if aboriginals have some of the highest rates of problem gambling in North America, what sort of sense does it make to create greater gambling opportunities right in your backyard?" asks Williams.
Alberta Gaming Minister Gordon Graydon says aboriginal casinos have to go through the same eight-step application process as any other casino in the province.
"They don’t just come in and say, ‘I think I’ll build a casino next month,’" says Graydon.
When asked about the potential for an increase in problem gambling, Graydon says, "I always have a problem with problem gambling no matter how small the percentage will be, the problem will always be with us and the question is to reduce that percentage or, if nothing else, certainly (prevent it) from getting any higher."
Graydon also says, "Maybe (First Nations) are thinking people with a gambling problem are gambling now and the First Nation isn’t getting any benefit out of it."
Back on the Stoney Nakoda reserve Powderface says he’s outraged that he and other protesters are being dragged into court just for standing up for what they believe in.
"How do you like it when you’re elected by people and you turn around and take them to court?" asks Powderface.
It’s clear that at least on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation a casino will not be built without a fight. |
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