The debate over First Nations gaming rights is revived by Canadian Senate Bill S-241.

The most recent iteration of the Act to Amend the Criminal Code and the Indian Act has brought the subject of First Nations’ rights to manage their own gaming operations back to the Senate.

The goal of Sen. Scott Tannas’ S-241 amendment to the Criminal Code is to confirm that a First Nation’s governing body has the sole right to operate and/or authorize gambling on its territory, which the Code refers to as “a lottery scheme.” Additionally, it would change the Indian Act so that the First Nation could control this kind of gaming.

At the bill’s second reading on December 2, Tannas stated, “To put it simply, the bill affirms First Nations governments’ jurisdiction and power to govern gambling activities on their reserve lands and does so in a way that matches identically provincial jurisdiction and powers in their respective jurisdictions.”

ALSO READ: How the gaming economy helps Native American tribes navigate shifting policies

A First Nation would not need to obtain permission before conducting and managing gaming “from or within” its reserve, but it would have to inform the federal and pertinent provincial governments of this intention.

A renewed effort with additional input

The revised version of S-268, which was introduced in 2023 but never made it past the Senate committee stage, is S-241. The Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples was given the authority to research, report, and offer feedback on the bill’s subject matter during its deliberation.

Tannas mentioned during last week’s reading that the Indigenous committee heard testimony from sixteen witnesses during five meetings on S-268.

“We’ve had an enormous amount of response from First Nations communities, both to me and in support of the bill since the introduction of [S-268],” Tannas stated to the assembly. “There is still much to be investigated at committee, but we have a good start on the study of this particular subject.”

Courtesy: https://www.covers.com, https://www.casino.org, https://pechanga.net