Kahnawake To Enter Online Gambling As An Operator

The Kahnawake First Nation is known in the online gambling circles as a host and regulatory authority for online casinos and other gambling verticals. Since 1996 The Kahnawake Gaming Commission has been operating from sovereign territory close to Montreal in the Quebec province of Canada. Sports Interaction has been its licensee since 1999. The operator offers an online sportsbook for Canada players.

In a press release dated June 2 the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has announced that it has agreed in principle to enter into the business of offering online gaming services as an operator in partnership with Sports Interaction. It will be expanding vertically and directly reaching out to online gamers. Negotiations between the Mohawk Council representatives and Sports Interaction have been going on for months. Grand Chief Michael Delisle Jr said that the council had conducted “lengthy and comprehensive research” which was placed before the council. The council then deliberated on this matter and discussed it threadbare in the meeting of June 1. A Mohawk Council Executive Directive was passed with nine out of the twelve chiefs supporting the move. The three dissenting chiefs were Lloyd Phillips, Carl Horn and Clinton Phillips.

In the near future the Kahnawake First Nation and Sports Interaction are expected to sign the licensing, outsourcing and related agreements. Then the decks will be cleared for operating the online gaming site with Sports Interaction branding. Delisle pointed out that the council had chosen Sports Interaction because the online gaming operator was not only a successful company but also a good corporate citizen in Kahnawake. Delisle said that the doors of unprecedented opportunity will now open for the tribes. “The agreements that were approved today will further strengthen Kahnawake's jurisdiction over gaming and contain provisions that will create employment and substantial revenues for the community.” He said that the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake we will continue to update the community directly and on a timely basis of the future developments.

This move, though beneficial to the First Nation, will increase the tension between the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and the provincial government of Quebec, which considers the council’s online gambling activities illegal under Canadian law. Nearly all Canadian provincial governments have identified online gambling as having long-term economic benefits. Since British Columbia launched its state operated online gambling site a few years ago, the other provincial governments have followed suit or are in the process of doing so. Delisle argues that why should a sovereign nation like the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake not have the same opportunity.

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