"First Nations Gaming as a Self-Government Imperative: Ensuring the Health of First Nations Problem Gamblers." (original) (raw)
Related papers
UNLV Gaming Research and Review 18, no. 2 (2014): 65-84.
To date a dearth of data has made it difficult to evaluate the success of First Nations casinos in Canada. This paper helps remedy this situation by presenting a three-province overview (Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta) of First Nations gaming models. Two key findings are offered that First Nations seeking gaming market entry, and provincial officials should genuinely consider. First, while each province has adopted a unique approach to First Nations gaming policy they have each opted to direct substantial revenues out of First Nations communities and into their own treasuries. Second, the evidence suggests that larger gaming properties located nearby a significant market provide more benefits versus smaller properties situated in more isolated areas. The subsequent discussion elaborates each provincial model’s revenue generating power, how the revenue in question is being allocated and its corresponding socio-economic impact, whether increased problem gambling and crime have resulted as predicted, while exploring employment trends to determine whether they have developed as anticipated.
"Casinos and Economic Well-Being: Evaluating the Alberta First Nations' Experience."
To date 17 First Nations have introduced casinos as an economic strategy to help mitigate existing socio-economic disparities in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, while the provincial Nova Scotia First Nations operate ‘Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) palaces’ (i.e., no table games). Although the economic benefits of Native casinos in the United States are well documented, there is very little research to determine whether the same effects exist in Canada. The present research seeks to partly fill this void by evaluating the impact of the recent introduction of casinos to Alberta First Nation (i.e., reserve) communities. Findings show that there is significant variability in the economic benefits between communities. Nonetheless, it is clear that, in general, the introduction of casinos in Alberta has broad economic benefits to Alberta First Nations.
There is a surprising paucity of information about urban Aboriginal gambling behaviours and practices considering that the urban Aboriginal community is the fastest growing demographic group in Canada and that indigenous people have some of the highest rates of gambling and problem gambling. Interpreting the focus group findings from First Nations and urban Aboriginal participants in Alberta, this study provides insights about urban Aboriginal and rural First Nations attitudes about gambling and the perceived value of the provincial First Nations gaming industry. Although the First Nations focus groups’ were aware of gambling’s associated positive and negative outcomes, they were generally supportive of their communities’ decision to pursue casinos. The urban Aboriginal focus group however identified little positive about the casinos, even if its participants supported the First Nations capacity to pursue casino development. These tensions demand policy makers’ attention, for the First Nations Gaming Policy has the potential to amplify what is a growing ideological divide evident between First Nation and urban Aboriginal peoples.
"Gambling and Problem Gambling among Canadian Urban Aboriginals"
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 2016
Objective: To assess the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling in urban Aboriginals in the Canadian Prairie provinces and to determine the predictors of problem gambling. Method: In total, 1114 Aboriginals living in 15 cities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba were recruited via posters and direct solicitation at Native Friendship Centres, shopping malls, and other locations where Aboriginals congregated. They each completed a self-administered 5-to 10-minute survey. Results: Urban Aboriginals in the present sample were found to have a much higher level of gambling participation than the general Canadian public, especially for electronic gambling machines, instant lotteries, and bingo. Their intensity of participation in terms of number of formats, frequency of play, and gambling expenditure was also very high. This, in turn, is an important contributing factor to their very high rate of problem gambling, which was found to be 27.2%. Problem gambling was higher in males, unemployed people, and cities having the highest proportion of their population consisting of urban Aboriginals. Conclusions: Urban Aboriginal people appear to have some of the highest known rates of problem gambling of any group in Canada. This is attributable to having many more risk factors for problem gambling, such as a greater level of participation in gambling, greater participation in continuous forms of gambling (e.g., electronic gambling machines), younger average age, higher rates of substance abuse and mental health problems, and a range of disadvantageous social conditions (e.g., poverty, unemployment, poor education, cultural stress) that are conducive to the development of addictive behaviour.
Book Review: First Nations Gambling
Aboriginal Policy Studies, 2011
The editor and primary author of this collection of essays is also the author of a major study published in 2006, Gambling with the Future: the Evolution of Aboriginal Gaming in Canada. This latest book provides a current view of the First Nations gambling in Canada on a number of fronts: legal, social, cultural, psychological, political, and economical. Its contributors are academics of law, psychology, social science, and public health, as well as professionals working in psychiatry, law, and community development. The book is divided into four sections: legal historical issues, socio-economic and research considerations, health, and challenges and First Nations gambling. The strength of this book lies in its multidisciplinary approach to the topic; its weakness is insufficient engagement with Indigenous knowledge about historical and contemporary facets of gambling.
This article argues that socio-economic analyses of reserve casino projects, specifically those studies structured to offer an overall assessment of success or failure, need to embrace mixed methods approaches. In particular, eliciting community-based perspectives through qualitative data gathering techniques is essential to provide a level of context required to better understand the casinos’ overall influence. To date researchers tend to rely on First Nations leaders projections and assessments as the baseline data for their analysis. This article compares the impacts of two casinos in northern Alberta communities, and shows how focus groups provided a grassroots perspective of the casinos’ positive and negative impacts that were not captured by the quantitative data.
"Tracking the westernization of urban Aboriginal gambling in Canada's Prairie Provinces."
International Gambling Studies, 2016
North American Aboriginals have an extensive cultural history of gambling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of modern western gambling on these traditional beliefs. This is the first large-scale study of this issue in Canada. A total of 1114 Aboriginals in 15 cities in Canada’s Prairie Provinces were surveyed, with recruitment occurring at Native Friendship Centres, shopping malls and other locations where Aboriginals congregated. Results showed that ‘gambling’ to most urban Aboriginal people refers to western commercial forms, something distinct from historical traditions. Attitudes toward gambling were negative, except whether Aboriginal provision of western commercial forms was good or bad for Aboriginal people, where opinion was divided. Primary motivations for gambling were the same as for non-Aboriginals: to win money and for entertainment. Although attitudes and motivations were quite similar to non-Aboriginals, overall level of gambling participation was higher, especially for electronic gambling machines, instant lotteries and bingo. It is concluded that Canadian Aboriginals have a largely westernized orientation to western forms of gambling. The policy implication of this finding is that the factors predictive of gambling benefits as well as the factors predictive of gambling harm among Aboriginals do not appear to be culturally unique.
Tourism Management, 2019
Casinos are generally recognized as significant generators of economic impact and tourism, but access is typically controlled in a perceived effort to reduce social harms, particularly those from gambling disorders. Using data from a representative sample of 50,048 Canadians across four provinces, this study empirically tests theory of the regional impacts of casino availability on participation in gambling and the development of gambling related problems. Increased exposure to casinos is found to be related to increases in both participation and problem gambling risk, despite the observation that all four provinces recently experienced casino expansion and population-wide declines in problem gambling prevalence rates. The estimates are robust to broad controls for health and demographic risk factors. The findings suggest that hospitality/tourism planners should consider wider expansion of gambling paired with increased investment in responsible and problem gambling programs, to maximize economic impacts while accelerating social adaptation to gambling related harms.
“The First Nations Contribution to Alberta’s Charitable Gaming Model: Assessing the Impacts.”
Canadian Public Policy, 2012
The province of Alberta implemented the First Nations Gaming Policy in 2001, permitting First Nations to construct reserve casinos. A policy provision insisted that First Nations turn over 30% of casino gambling revenues to Alberta for use by provincial charities. In the six years since the first reserve casino opened its doors almost all provincial First Nations continue to lag behind mainstream Alberta society from a socio-economic perspective, while provincial charitable organizations have increasingly come to depend on reserve casino gambling revenues. This research examines the impact of the five provincial First Nation’s casinos in First Nation communities, and how much revenue these beneficiaries are losing annually through the 30% provincial allocation.