SIOUX VALLEY DAKOTA NATION — The Manitoba government has offered several Dakota First Nations a cut of gaming revenue on the condition they do not pursue casino projects, the Brandon Sun has learned.
The chiefs of Sioux Valley, Dakota Tipi and Canupawakpa said Premier Wab Kinew pitched a revenue-sharing agreement at a meeting in Winnipeg Aug. 21.
“He offered a percentage of all the gaming revenues,” said Dakota Tipi Chief Dennis Pashe. “It’s negotiable, so we have to get into the negotiation details. It was just his initial offer.”
“He was trying to offer us a… revenue share,” Canupawakpa Chief Raymond Brown confirmed.
Earlier this year, Brown and Sioux Valley Chief Vince Tacan signed an agreement with Chief Don Smoke of the Dakota Plains First Nation to build a casino in western Manitoba on land owned by Sioux Valley.
The agreement was struck months after Kinew said he was open to considering more First Nations-run casinos and the government instructed the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries board to lift its pause on gaming expansion.
At the Aug. 21 meeting, the premier said he wasn’t interested in more casinos being developed, the chiefs told the Sun.
“We got to the meeting,” Tacan said in the boardroom of the community government office at Sioux Valley, “and basically the premier took over the meeting and said, ‘Yeah, thanks for coming. And I made a decision, and no casinos for anyone, no new casinos.’
“Right off the hop, he says he’s not allowing (any) more casinos in Manitoba,” said Brown. “He’s not going to allow us to build a casino and run a casino.”
Instead, the premier proposed a revenue-sharing agreement to follow through with his goal of economic reconciliation with First Nations.
Tacan and Brown said the premier said his concerns about adding casinos were based on the negative effects, such as addiction.
The premier’s office did not respond to questions about the meeting but sent an emailed statement.
“Our government continues to engage with First Nation partners including supporting economic reconciliation and local economic development,” the statement said.
Brandon MLA Glen Simard, the minister responsible for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, wouldn’t comment on the chiefs’ claims because he said closed-door conversations should remain confidential.
“That’s where that process should stay,” he said.
Tacan said no documents or paper were provided at the August meeting, but the initial pitch was in the hundreds of thousands each year.
“It was to be $2 million split between five communities, which was like $400,000 each,” he told the Sun. “So what the hell can you do with $400,000? You can’t even build a decent house with $400,000.”
Casinos, lottery, online gaming and video lottery terminals raked in $390 million in income for the province last year, as per the latest annual report for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries. That income pays for health care, education, social services, housing and infrastructure.
Tacan said he was not impressed by Kinew’s proposal. He said he’d rather build a casino or expand a gaming centre to give people jobs.
“I made it known that I didn’t agree with it. I said that the perception is our people get money for nothing — right? — and that we like to stay home and do nothing and get money. I said, ‘We want to work.’”
However, Pashe said it’s an option if the terms are agreeable.
“I think it’s OK to accept it. (Casinos are) kind of a diluted market,” said Pashe. “You look around at all the casinos surrounding us.” There’s competition, he said, and it could be “a 20-year losing money proposition,” along with the possibility of facing legal battles with the province.
“We don’t really have to put up any capital. (We) get a revenue-sharing agreement and take it to the bank with a whole lot less headache.”
He called it an acceptable form of economic reconciliation.
A follow-up meeting is expected as early as next month.
— with files from Matt Goerzen
— Brandon Sun