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One of the biggest casino resorts in North America has officially opened in Toronto, Canada’s biggest city.
And as Dan Karpenchuk reports, while some may be thrilled by the resort, it’s not sitting well with at least one first nation in Ontario.
The Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto boasts 4,800 slot machines, nearly 150 live table games and sports betting kiosks.
In addition there’s a 400-room hotel and in coming months, it will open a 5,000 person entertainment venue that could host live music and sports events.
The cost for all of this: $1 billion dollars.
However, the problem according to Kelly LaRocca, chief of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation northeast of Toronto, is that it will drain critical funding away from her band’s casino.
In 2016 the band signed a revenue sharing agreement with the Ontario government. Since that deal was signed, two smaller casinos opened – and now the mega facility in Toronto – and La Rocca says that’s a deal breaker.
“The Ford government broke their word to our community. Honor your commitment, honor your word.”
LaRocca says her band’s casino has brought clean drinking water and enhanced health care and education. All that is now at risk.
Other indigenous communities that operate casinos are also concerned and see the mega casino as an existential threat.
The band is set to enter mediation with the province, and if that doesn’t work, it could come down to legal action.
A lithium mine company has filed a lawsuit against Native Americans organizing to stop construction of the Thacker Pass Mine in Nevada.
The mine would supply a core material needed to power a new fleet of electric vehicles in the U.S., but Native American activists say it will pollute the land and nearby communities. Christina Aanestad reports.
A Montana Pool Service skatepark, like this one in Lewiston, MT, will open at Standing Rock. (Courtesy Montana Pool Service)
The grand opening of a new skatepark will take place on the land of Standing Rock tomorrow from 2-5 p.m.
The event will include an opening ceremony, skate clinic, a meal, T-shirts, and more.
The gift to the Standing Rock community was made possible by Jeff Ament’s organization Montana Pool Service and Nike.
To date, his charitable foundation has built more than 30 world-class skateparks in rural, isolated communities in Montana, and surrounding states including across Indian Country.
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