Premier’s gaming reversal a hard blow for the Dakota

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/09/2024 (399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Whether it’s Treaty 1 or a (western Manitoba) First Nation — if we’re talking about that part of the province — they would have to come forward and say, ‘All right, here is a plan,’ and then we’d take it from there.”

— Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, December 2023

What is Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew playing at?

Less than a year ago, his government issued a mandate letter to the Crown-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries that essentially lifted a pause on any new gambling facilities in the province — a pause that was first implemented by the Pallister government in 2018, pending a review of the province’s gaming strategy.

Included in the Kinew government’s decision, any new gaming expansion would include reconciliation with Indigenous people as part of the plan.

That announcement, and Kinew’s comments about First Nations coming forward with a plan, raised the hopes of local Dakota First Nations in western Manitoba about the province’s willingness to have another look at a Dakota-owned and operated gambling facility.

So, earlier this year, Sioux Valley Chief Vince Tacan and his council signed a memorandum of understanding with Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation and Dakota Plains First Nation near Portage to open a casino on land owned by Sioux Valley at the corner of Highway 21 and the Trans-Canada Highway.

The hope was that such a development would bring new employment opportunities to the communities, as well as provide revenue streams and spin-off businesses such as a convention centre and a hotel.

For Sioux Valley in particular, the idea was worth pursing. After two failed attempts to convince Brandonites to host a Sioux Valley-owned casino in plebiscite votes held in 2002 and 2008, the community was told by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the former NDP government of the day that its time was up.

According to Tacan, the five Dakota bands were asked to “come together as Dakota nations” and meet with the premier in Winnipeg at the Manitoba legislature. But instead of listening to the proposal they had developed, the premier decided to tell the Dakota leaders that the province was not going to entertain the creation of any new casinos. And in fact, the premier wanted to reduce the number of gaming machines it would be allowed on reserve. In Sioux Valley’s case, that meant reducing its current number of 60 machines to 40.

In exchange, they would be offered a revenue-sharing agreement, with the initial offer in the range of $2 million split between the five communities — financed with money from government-run gaming revenues.

It’s understandable that Tacan — as chief of Sioux Valley — would be disappointed in hearing such an offer, particularly when the plan was to operate their own facility. From our perspective, it seems the Dakota were set up to be disappointed yet again.

Given that the NDP has offered gaming revenue to First Nations — revenue that normally helps pay for health care, education, social services, housing and infrastructure in this province — it’s no wonder the government has been trying to avoid a paper trail and instead speak quietly with First Nations in closed-door meetings.

But for Kinew to open up the field to First Nations to bring forward ideas and plans, and then to so totally shut down the historically wronged Dakota people in western Manitoba only a few months later, we wonder at the ulterior motive.

Was the show and dance of “being open to new gaming” from last December merely cover to forge a deal with Peguis First Nation and the Aseneskak casino?

Recall that the failing Aseneskak Casino was in talks to move its operation to Assiniboia Downs near Winnipeg, so it would profit from being situated near a larger population base. The plan once called for the casino to be part of a multimillion-dollar initiative to turn 36 acres of the Downs into an urban reserve with the Manitoba Jockey Club — which operates Assiniboia Downs — as a partner.

As the Winnipeg Free Press reported in 2016, the major stumbling block to realizing that effort was the provincial government, and Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister.

But Pallister was publicly against this idea, saying that the capital city gaming market was already saturated. Besides, Pallister famously didn’t like gambling anyway, and thought it was a poor way for First Nations to generate revenue.

Unfortunately, the minister responsible for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, Brandon East MLA Glen Simard, has not been very forthcoming with details on the province’s negotiations with First Nations. And neither has the premier or his office.

But it wouldn’t surprise me if the province was soon to announce a new deal with the Aseneskak casino to move operations to Assiniboia Downs — or to other urban populations. The construction of a Dakota-owned casino along the Trans-Canada, then, would only be a detriment to that effort, and to any potential revenue stream that would come from it.

That doesn’t sound much like economic reconciliation to me, at least not for the Dakota.

» Matt Goerzen, editor