According to a report on CTV National News, the homeowners of the Great Blue Heron Casino, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation (MSIFN), north of Toronto, consider they obtained a raw deal from the federal government with the launch of iGaming in Ontario and new land-based operations within the space. The Great Blue Heron Casino is located in Port Perry and it opened in 1997.
Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto opened lately and the billion-dollar property together with new venues in Ajax and Pickering, not to point out the arrival of economic “free-market” on-line on line casino gaming within the Ontarian province, have the First Nations operator greater than slightly nervous about the way forward for its operations that present much-needed revenues for the tribe. Their Chief, Kelly LaRocca. States it a bit extra boldly and believes the federal government has damaged guarantees and shorted the neighborhood on agreed-upon working phrases.
Owned Operated and Managed by Three Different Entities
The MSIFN owns the on line casino which is managed by Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and operated by Great Canadian Entertainment. An settlement by all three events entered into in 2016, and spelling out the MSIFN’s expectations doesn’t rhyme with the truth on the bottom at present, in accordance to the Chief.
“I’ve had major concerns around each casino opening and expansion,” LaRocca mentioned. “It’s an existential threat for our economic driver and the community here. The community feels they were misled by the government.”
One bone of rivalry appears to be stay leisure that Great Canadian has booked at all properties within the space, besides presumably Great Blue Heron, with Live Nation despite the fact that there’s a new leisure heart slated for the older on line casino. Chief LaRocca mentioned no person has knowledgeable her of an opening date for the 500-seat venue, however different reviews point out a gap within the fall of this yr.
The Chief mentioned, “I’m not seeing a guarantee that the list of entertainers will be shared amongst the [Great Canadian Entertainment]
facilities
.”
The on line casino has seen different latest capital enhancements together with an expanded gaming space with new slot machines and desk video games in addition to a 100-key lodge that opened a free quick years in the past.
However, the Chief should look out for the welfare of the Nation that depends on income from the property it owns – in actual fact, it’s so necessary that the entire events can be concerned in a mediation that may take place to see if all of the phrases of the 2016 settlement are being met. The mediation might additionally lead to extra gaming seats being opened at Great Blue Heron to assist it meet the targets promised. The on line casino transitoined from a “charity casino” to a commercial casino in 2016 with the settlement.
According to the Chief, the on line casino is“the economic foundation and lifeblood of <the>community. It has brought us clean drinking water, enhanced health-care services and education,” she mentioned.
No Delusions about Mediation
LaRocca defined that the neighborhood has readability of their expectations of what mediation can carry,
“You know, if parties come willingly to the table and open to all matters of possibility, then a mediation works well. If parties come to the table closed and with preconceived notions of how things ought to go, with no room for movement, then really, it’s not meaningful open discussion. So we’re just trying to be cautious with what our expectations are and willing to go the distance should we need to go to mediation.”
The Chief says the Pickering on line casino violates a proximity settlement within the 2016 doc and says they weren’t consulted on that earlier than the Pickering venue was authorized and opened.
“We’d like the agreements that we entered into in 2016 to be honored. What that means is to have a protected territory that is honored by the OLG.
“The way they handled Pickering and Ajax… we will be looking for them to acknowledge it and for some kind of compensation for that.”
She’s additionally involved concerning the impact of iGaming in the marketplace, fearing the chance for folks to merely log on to play on line casino video games is costing them cash.
“We’re interested in discussing iGaming and the rollout of that and the impact on gaming in our community, in our facility, and on other land-based facilities,” LaRocca mentioned.
“I’d be mighty upset at the onset of iGaming, especially after having poured in hundreds of millions of dollars into various land-based gaming facilities, only to turn around and have their market share scuttled. But I suspect that the service providers have been compensated for that.”
The 2016 agreements states partly: “The Province and the First Nation intend that the Great Blue Heron continue to operate and be commercially viable.”
However, the Chief sees the proliferation of newer and greater casinos as an existential menace to the Great Blue Heron.
“The Ford government have broken their word to our community. It’s hurting a lot of Indigenous people and we are going to have to take issue and fight against the cannibalization of gaming.”
Source: Facing commercial competition, Great Blue Heron tribal casino owners look for better deal with Ontario government, CDC Gaming Reports, July 5, 2023