Three First Nations in Manitoba, Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to partner to build a casino near Brandon, the Brandon Sun reported.
The land where they will build is owned by the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, 23.6 miles from Brandon—near the Petro-Canada station at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 21.
The February 9 meeting where they worked out the details of the MOU was attended by the tribal council of the Sioux Valley and Chief Vince Tacan, Chief Raymond Brown of the Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation and on a virtual call by Dakota Plains First Nation Chief Don Smoke.
The three First Nations will own roughly equal shares of the venture and the revenue. They hope to invest that in related businesses to include a convention center and hotel.
Chief Tacan declared, “It’s going to give our people a chance to take our place at the table when we talk about small business training and those kinds of things.” He added, “It’s going to open the door not only to our youth here in Sioux Valley, but from the participating communities.”
The First Nations will share responsibilities, too, he said. The Sioux Valley will be in charge of political negotiations, feasibility and logistics, with the other two responsible for political, financial and human resources.
Next on the agenda will be creating a feasibility study and obtaining a gaming license from the province of Manitoba. Tacan added that they will also need to create a unanimous shareholder agreement to cover setup and operations.
Glen Simard, member of the legislative assembly of Manitoba, and the minister who runs the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation, told the Brandon Sun that the government “was proud to lift the gaming pause” imposed by the previous government six years ago. He added, “We look forward to receiving this proposal and to continue our ongoing conversations with a number of stakeholders from across Manitoba.”
The tribes will meet with the government in the next two weeks to discuss the casino, said Chief Tacan.
Ever since the Sioux Valley purchased the land they have discussed how they might use it for economic development. They settled on it as the only viable location for gaming, said Tacan. They then raised the subject with the councils of the other First Nations.
Tacan told the Sun, “We all face the same difficulties in our communities, we’re all struggling with different things and resources, so this is something that’s going to help us.” His first nation was seen as having a good record due to developing and operating the Petro-Canada station.
With that experience, “I think we’re well positioned to move forward and successfully complete a casino project and any other project that comes along,” said the chief.
Chief Raymond Brown commented to the Sun, “We as Dakota people don’t have much of anything. You look around and see that we don’t have business and tribal councils.” He added, “We are here, too. These are our lands, too. I’m very happy we’re moving forward.”
Chief Smoke also commented, “We’ve tried everything we could out here within our own area. However, our market is just not there, our traffic is not there. We don’t have enough people in the area to benefit from economic development, so partnerships are the key for us.”
