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Tension Growing Between Kahnawake and Canada
by Devon Chappell, News Staff Writer
December 03, 2007
For most of the veterans who have been
working in the online gambling industry since the
mid-nineties, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission is a
familiar name. One of the largest licensors and
"regulators" of online casinos, the Mohawk tribe
certainly has reaped a hefty penny in licensing fees. So
much so in fact, the Canadian government is beginning
to take a closer look after all this time.
Although the First Nation enclave of
Kahnawake believes they have sovereign rights to issue
gambling licenses to online casinos and all forms of
internet betting sites for that matter, the Canadian
government is wielding a card saying only the government
has the right to issue gambling licenses. This train of
thought was certainly behind the raid that went down
little over a year ago - a raid not on Kahnawake, but
rather, on the Montreal area
offices of the famed online casino, Golden Palace. Kahnawake, by the way, is only an hour's drive outside
of Montreal.
Following a $2 million fine/settlement
with Golden Palace Casino's owners, the Cyber World
Group, the Canadian government, perhaps assuming the
Mohawks are unfamiliar with the Canadian constitution,
made it clear to Kahnawake that what they are doing is
against the Canadian Criminal Code. And while it's true
the government can go after online casino owners, much
like the U.S. has been doing to a certain extent, the
Mohawk tribe claims their rights to regulate online
gambling are protected under Section 35 of the Canadian
Constitution.
It certainly makes you think they are
right, considering Kahnawake has never been under the
radar by no means. According to tribal leaders, their
servers now handle 60% of the Web traffic being used by
the 440+ betting sites they license. However, perhaps it
is this fact that has caused the Canadian government to
become more aggressive. Although the Mohawk tribe claims
the world thinks they are doing a good job regulating
online gambling, an increasing number of players are
begging to differ. The recent cheating scandal at
Absolute Poker was under the regulation of Kahnawake,
while an increasing number of online casinos blacklisted
for failure to make payments to players are also
Kahnawake sites.
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