The Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister will not allow the Manitoba First Nations (aka the Opaskwayak Cree Nation) to move the Aseneskak casino from The Pas to Winnipeg, due to a saturated gaming market in the Canadian province. The owners say the casino will have to shut down in a few years if not allowed to move to a better location. Pallister says that will cannibalize existing casinos.
The six First Nations who own the casino, which hasn’t made a profit in ten years, say they need a larger area to draw from, but Pallister points to the 2016 Manitoba Gaming Market Study published by the Progressive Conservative government saying that the entire province, including Winnipeg, has too much gaming. It called Manitoba one of the “most penetrated gaming markets in North America,” with residents spending $1.5 billion a year.
The province has the highest ratio of VLTs per capita in Canada, and only Quebec has a largest number of machines.
The First Nations have an option in their licensing agreement allowing them to relocate, but only if the government agrees.
“Absolutely no,” said the premier, when asked by reporters.
Pallister has said he doesn’t want to rely on gaming to generate economic development. ” We’re over serviced. We’re the most over serviced province in the country of Canada when it comes to gambling. I want people to get jobs, I want people to have opportunities to grow and learn and work together and help each other, and the gambling industry isn’t going to do that,” he told reporters.
Besides, he says, the idea behind such casinos was to help employment in specific communities. It would hurt The Pas to move the casino, he reasons. The town has about 5,500 residents, and the casino is one of the top employers.
The opposition New Democratic Party has criticized Pallister for making the decision hastily.
