A First Nations group in B.C. says the provincial government is unfairly shutting aboriginals out of gaming action and now it wants to force the government to show them the money.
The First Nations Summit has created its own gaming commission in an attempt to devise a way to pry some of the billions of dollars the provincial government takes in every year.
Every other province with legalized gambling has some kind of profit-sharing agreement with its First Nations.
Chief Joe Hall, chairman of the B.C. First Nations Gaming Commission, said Monday that attempts to talk to government officials for four years about handing over some of the cash have always been rebuffed.
"B.C. is hell bent on keeping all the money at the expense of our struggling communities," he said.
First Nations in other provinces have used gaming revenue to solve housing shortages and create education funds, health services and economic opportunities.
"Right now we're too heavily reliant on federal handouts and we don't want to be that way," said Hall, who is also the chief of the Sto:lo First Nation in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.
"This is frustrating," he said. "Time has dragged on."
Hall said that besides the establishment of the gaming commission, future options to "force the issue" could include legal action or even starting up a casino without permission on First Nations land.
Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister George Abbott did not return a call requesting an interview.
The summit said the provincial government makes about $2.6 billion a year from gaming revenues.
But starting up a casino isn't always a sure thing, said professor Robert Williams, a co-ordinator with the Alberta Gaming Research Institute.
He said there have been some big aboriginal winners and a lot of losers in the casino business in both Canada and the United States.
"Casinos aren't automatically a cash cow, it very much hinges on if you've got an untapped market," he said.
Williams said First Nations in Alberta have benefited both socially and economically from gaming money.
But there's a possible downside, he said, noting that natives have some of the highest rates of problem gambling.
"So the wisdom of putting a casino in your backyard when you have very high rates of addictions already -- the question (is) how much worse does that get? We don't know the answer to that yet."
For now, Hall said First Nations aren't interested in starting up a casino but only want to share gaming resources with a provincial government that has spent a great deal of time talking about a new relationship with them.
"This would go a long way in saying to aboriginals, 'We are serious about developing a good working relationship; we are serious about trying to do what we can to assist in improving your communities.'"
