A bill that would give Canadian First Nations exclusive control of gaming on their reserves has stalled in the Senate, MBC Radio reported June 20.
Bill S-268, which was tabled, would amend the Criminal Code “to provide that the governing body of a First Nation has exclusive authority to conduct and manage a lottery scheme on its reserve and to license the conduct and management of a lottery scheme by other persons and entities on its reserve, if the governing body of the First Nation has provided notice to the Government of Canada and the government of any province in which the reserve is located of its intention to exercise that authority.”
The bill would also amend the Indian Act to give tribal governments the authority to pass bylaws regulating gaming on reserves. Once the bill is passed out of the Senate it would go to the House of Commons for ratification.
The bill has been endorsed by Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron who declared, “It is not only going to enhance First Nations community’s lives across Canada, but it will also benefit the economy of Canada.”
Reginald Bellerose, chairman of the board for the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, told MBC Radio, “The needs are so great. Poverty, addictions, chronic health at the community level. So, our own-source revenue is badly needed.”
