Oh Canada... True North Strong

[bdc30 0]

From today's edition of the National Post....http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=352670Ottawa Targets GamingOTTAWA - The federal government said yesterday it is considering new measures to stamp out Internet gaming sites based on a native reserve in Quebec, in a move that could spark conflict between Ottawa and Canada's First Nations ahead of a second national "day of action" this summer.The government deems the 400 or so poker and sports-betting sites operating from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal to be illegal, but neither federal not provincial governments have attempted to enforce the law. Now Ottawa is reviewing that position."Following recent concerns surrounding Internet gambling in Canada, the Minister of Justice [Rob Nicholson] has asked his officials to examine whether the enforcement of the Criminal Code provisions could be assisted with other measures," said Genevieve Breton, Mr. Nicholson's director of communications.The "other measures" are understood to be moves to restrict banks and credit card companies from conducting financial transactions with illegal Internet operators. Similar legislation was enacted in the United States two years ago.The Mohawks of Kahnawake say these laws do not apply to them since they are a sovereign nation. They also cite section 35 of the Constitution, which was inserted to protect native culture. The Mohawks say that gaming has been central to their culture as a means of settling disputes through competition, not violence. Other native groups, such as the Alexander First Nation in Alberta, have said they plan to emulate Kahnawake.Owners of horse-racing tracks, such as Great Canadian Gaming Corp., say they pay $1-billion in tax receipts every year to various levels of governments and incur huge expenses putting on the races. "These offshore operations just poach horse-racing and no one can do anything about it. They're parasites on the butt of Canada," said Ross McLeod, chief executive of Great Canadian Gaming, which owns four tracks in Canada.The track owners have also suggested that governments force Internet service providers to block the sites from Canadian bandwidth. "I expect the government to do the right thing and protect our country's interests," Mr. McLeod said.Chuck Barnett, who is a member of the board of supervisors for Mohawk Internet Technologies, a utility company that provides connectivity services for the site owners at Kahnawake, sees Ottawa as a foreign government that has no business regulating activity on Mohawk territory. "However, if I were a Canadian, I might instead be more interested in how explicit legislation could serve as the catalyst for a potential source of economic development, employment and revenue through taxation," he said.This view was echoed by Michael Lipton, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in gaming law. He said the horse-racing industry has had a monopoly on gambling in Canada for years, with Woodbine Entertainment currently holding a lock on government-sanctioned online horse betting."I guess if I had a monopoly, I wouldn't want anyone to compete against me either," Mr. Lipton said.He said the United States has faced serious technical difficulties implementing restrictions on the payment system. "They are completely bogged down on how to block this system."He acknowledged the Mohawks have had some problems with fraud. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which regulates Web sites operating from the reserve, fined one popular Web site -- Absolute Poker --$500,000 after players complained of irregular betting that was traced back to someone associated with the site. But he said most operations are transparent and credible.Rather than attempting prohibition, Mr. Lipton said the government should bring the Kahnawake sites into the system and regulate them. He said this would protect the vulnerable, guard against money laundering, bring in tax revenue and provide a competitive edge in the gaming software market in terms of international trade."I think [Ottawa] should embrace this and recognize that people don't want to be in a position where the government tells them what they can or can't do in the peace of their own home," he said.

[sagedecarte 0]

lol **** you mr. mcleod

[Ex_Matt 0]

I think our justice system would let them off with a slap on the wrist, and they could set up an offshore operation within a week.

[zoo 0]

"I expect the government to do the right thing and protect our country's interests," Mr. McLeod said.

Who's interests? How do these people say this crap with a straight face?

[bdc30 0]

"I guess if I had a monopoly, I wouldn't want anyone to compete against me either," Mr. Lipton said.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Also, how shitty is it that they are using the Absolute Poker clusterfk as justification for their cause...It was only a matter of time.

[MyPlayIsRAB 0]

i doubt anything will come of this, canadian politcians are great at making something public then pushing it aside and taking a vacation. americas hat ftw!

[TheMan2Go 0]

Oh Canada. Doesn't matter everyone will find a way to play anyway.

[gruven 530]

This debate has been going on for a long time in Canada..... the big gaming/racing groups such as WEG (Woodbine Entertainment Group) have been trying to have online poker in all forms banned. They believe it affects their bottom line (probably true) and that, if poker were to be banned all of the billions of money wagered on poker would then come directly to them (probably not true). They have attempted a couple of times in the past to get injunctions agains the Kahnawake gaming corporation to shut them down, unsuccessfully. One of the biggest hurdles the Kahnawake have to fight through is that the head of their gaming commission, the corporation that administers the servers that run the poker companies, is a non-native. The reality is true that the racing groups do pay a bucketful in taxes, and that will give them some drag. But historically, starting a fight with native groups in the past 50 years in Canada has been a losing proposition. This should make for turtle like speed in dealing with this issue. It's already been ongoing for about 3-4 years...

[jmbreslin 0]

The Mohawks say that gaming has been central to their culture as a means of settling disputes through competition, not violence.

This is my fav quote from the article. "We don't scalp our enemies anymore, we settle our differences at the blackjack table."

[bdc30 0]

But historically, starting a fight with native groups in the past 50 years in Canada has been a losing proposition. This should make for turtle like speed in dealing with this issue. It's already been ongoing for about 3-4 years...

If they deal with this anywhere near as efficiently as they have handled the whole Caledonia land claim issue, we have NOTHING to worry about...

[perdoo 0]

if it happens .. i am proud to announce here that i will open some form of "speakeasy" gaming room were we can also buy cigarrettes tax free and smoke wherever we wanti figure to incorporate myself and hit the government up for some sweet corporate welfare and one of those really sweet interest free unsecured loans that they tend to normally give the developers and matthew barret when he ran BMOan if all else fails.. the crystal meth francise is showing potential... if i continue with that, i might even be able to take on the big girls in the weight loss market too

[Merby 3]

Noooo!Die Conservative Harper government, Die!Bring back the corrupt lawless Liberals! At least they won't try to ban internet gambling, they will just try to go for the lucrative kickbacks available to taxing the industry.

[finztotheleft 0]

"a parasite on the butt of Canada" lolWhat makes the horse racing people so sure that all the poker gambling money will be coming their way ? Did they loose x % of their business since online poker has been around ? I play poker online approx 8 hours a day, 5-7 days/week, for 3 years. I have never, no do I plan to ever, bet on horse racing. Do they really expect to see a sudden surge in betting on racing if they succeed in getting rid of online poker ?

[silkyjonson 1]

"a parasite on the butt of Canada" lolWhat makes the horse racing people so sure that all the poker gambling money will be coming their way ? Did they loose x % of their business since online poker has been around ? I play poker online approx 8 hours a day, 5-7 days/week, for 3 years. I have never, no do I plan to ever, bet on horse racing. Do they really expect to see a sudden surge in betting on racing if they succeed in getting rid of online poker ?

All this is, is one form of gambling trying to push the other out and take a larger share of the market. Your average online poker players are not going to be the horse racing demographic.This is just a joke if McCloud thinks that his comments are actually helping his cause, it just makes the Horse racing cartel look like a bunch of greedy fucks trying to squeeze every dollar from Canadian gamblers and hating on internet gambling, why would'nt he suggest taxing internet gambling and turning into a source of revenue ie. like was suggested by the native quoted, even though it may be against their best interest.

[MrJohn 0]

If they deal with this anywhere near as efficiently as they have handled the whole Caledonia land claim issue, we have NOTHING to worry about...

I love how that whole situation is being handled. Unbelievable.