Canada Targets Kahnawake Online Gambling

A report this week suggests that the Canadian government may want to prevent its citizens from betting with websites registered out of the Kahnawake Indian Reservation located a few miles away from Montreal, Quebec.

The measure, if effective, would directly cut off customers from online gambling websites like Sports Interaction, which was the first Kahnawake-based online sports betting site in 1999.

While Kahnawake licenses many online gambling ventures, only a few are believed to be physically located on the Reservation in terms of office space.

"Following recent concerns surrounding Internet gambling in Canada, the Minister of Justice [Rob Nicholson] has asked his officials to examine whether the enforcement of the Criminal Code provisions could be assisted with other measures,"  Genevieve Breton, Mr. Nicholson's director of communications, told the Ottawa National Post.

The "other measures" are understood to be moves to restrict banks and credit card companies from conducting financial transactions with illegal Internet operators. Similar legislation was enacted in the United States two years ago.

The Mohawks of Kahnawake say these laws do not apply to them since they are a sovereign nation. They also cite section 35 of the Constitution, which was inserted to protect native culture. The Mohawks say that gaming has been central to their culture as a means of settling disputes through competition, not violence. Other native groups, such as the Alexander First Nation in Alberta, have said they plan to emulate Kahnawake.

Owners of horse-racing tracks, such as Great Canadian Gaming Corp., say they pay $1-billion in tax receipts every year to various levels of governments and incur huge expenses putting on the races. "These offshore operations just poach horse-racing and no one can do anything about it. They're parasites on the butt of Canada," said Ross McLeod, chief executive of Great Canadian Gaming, which owns four tracks in Canada.

Chuck Barnett, who is a member of the board of supervisors for Mohawk Internet Technologies, a utility company that provides connectivity services for the site owners at Kahnawake, sees Ottawa as a foreign government that has no business regulating activity on Mohawk territory. "However, if I were a Canadian, I might instead be more interested in how explicit legislation could serve as the catalyst for a potential source of economic development, employment and revenue through taxation," he said.

One of the better known "Mohawk entities" is Bodog.  However, the online gambling venture with offices in both Antigua and Costa Rica, does not take bets from Canadian citizens.

The Canadian government has traditionally stayed out of Kahnawake affairs.  The last time the two parties clashed, there was bloodshed.  Nobody, including the Kahnawake Nation, wants a repeat of that incident during the early 1990's.  Barnett, has told Gambling911.com, that situation was heavily exaggerated and that the Kahnawake's themselves were not even involved in some of the more "high profile" clashes with police.

Khanawake Unrest

In 1990, Canadian police officers firing tear gas and wielding night sticks battled rock-throwing demonstrators during deays of violent protests against a month long blockade of a Montreal bridge by Mohawk Indians.

The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between the Mohawk nation and the town of Oka, Quebec which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted until September 26, 1990. It resulted in three deaths, and would be the first of a number of well-publicized violent conflicts between Indigenous people and the Canadian government in the late 20th century.

About 150 youths armed with baseball bats and tire irons threw rocks and bottles at the police near the entrance to the Kahnawake reservation in Chateauguay, a southern Montreal suburb.

But Barnett believes the Mohawk people have gotten a bad rap from this incident.

"The "rock-throwing" incident was carried out by non-native civilians, in the neighboring town of Chateauguay, outside the Kahnawake/Chateauguay blockade. These events are well documented and actual footage can be viewed in the NFB Film, 'Rocks at Whiskey Trench'," Barnett clarifies. "This incident did not involve Mohawks of Kahnawake, but pitted some residents and visiting "hooligans" in Chateauguay against Provincial Police."

And as for Kahnawake's relationship with Quebec. "It's good," Barnett insists.

"Kahnawake has a recognized policing agreement with the Quebec Minister of Security which was established in 1999 and incorporates a standard for policing protocols between the Kahnawake Police Force and those of the neighboring communities.

"The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has a very productive relationship with the Government of Quebec, and each regularly communicate and meet to discuss matters of mutual concern and interest. A number of examples may be found in the Ten Administrative Agreements entered into between Kahnawake and Quebec in 1999 which continue to be maintained and respected to this very day. Unfortunately, this does not make for very exciting or dramatic storytelling and is an item which seems to be "misplaced" at press time in some of the local media.

Other Motives for Wanting to Silence the Kahnawake Nation?

In a report filed by Covers.com, the leading sports handicapping firm based out of Halifax, Canada, questions arose about ulterior motives in wanting the Kahnawake out.

Are they doing this as a prelude to some sort of negotiated settlement that sees the Kahnawake reserve pay some taxes? The Mohawks will vigorously oppose this idea, but even they can see that they won't have a lot of public or even internal support if the only alternative leads to a possibly violent showdown over gambling.

It is well-known in Canada that the current Conservative administration in Canada is pro-American to a fault. Is the government getting pressured by the American government into persuing this matter? This is possible, but it still seems unlikely that they would be willing to take such a risk simply to please George.

Is the Canadian government secretly interested in legalizing online gambling? If so, this might be an angle they could use. They can tell their conservative following that the Mohawks are currently breaking the law and there is no way to peacefully stop it. Rather than risking a war, they can compromise by legalizing online gambling and taxing it.

As mentioned, there is a federal election looming in Canada sooner or later, and the Conservative party is in a pretty strong position in the polls, but doesn't want to be responsible for calling the third federal election in four years. As a result, they have been taking a harder line recently, trying to draw the opposition into forcing an election. By bringing an issue like this to a head, it could be used to force the opposition to act.

It remains to be seen what will eventually happen as it relates to Kahnawake and its involvement with online gambling.

In recent years, Barnett and the Mohawks have become more outspoken and certainly more respected in the world of Internet gambling after assuming the status quo during its first five years licensing these ventures. 
 

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published March 6, 2008 8:24 am EST

 

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