MCK at the Canadian Gaming Summit
Written by Jeremy Zafran on 14 June 2023
Representatives from the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) and the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission (KGC) are in attendance at the Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto. Ratsénhaienhs Michael Delisle, Jr. and Ashley Stacey, KGC Legal Counsel, are on there today. In a statement, Delisle says that The MCK and KGC were recently made aware of the Quebec Online Gaming Coalition, which intends to advocate for Quebec to adopt an online gaming framework like Ontario’s iGaming scheme. Delisle wants all parties face to face at the table for discussions:
“Other people like part of the Quebec Coalitions who have come to sit at tables with us, say we should have come to you first. There are issues at hand that we wanted to try and deal with Quebec on our own and they obviously got their response from Loto-Quebec that was less than agreeable. So, they understand the mistakes that were made and are continuing to work forward with us in tryin to get Quebec, Ontario and Canada back to the table.”
The MCK has made several attempts to engage in meaningful discussions with Canada and Justice Minister David Lametti to create meaningful space for First Nation-led gaming in Canada. Delisle says that Minister Lametti has failed to act on previous discussions or on the open letter his department sent to all First Nations in April, 2021.
