gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge
gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge
gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge
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$500 chip. One municipal <strong>of</strong>ficial concluded, “I th<strong>in</strong>k the city <strong>of</strong> Cold Lake <strong>in</strong> general is probably<br />
benefit<strong>in</strong>g … the cas<strong>in</strong>o has some fantastic security there.”<br />
The Calgary and Edmonton Police <strong>Services</strong> do not track whether <strong>in</strong>dividual calls are cas<strong>in</strong>o or<br />
<strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> related, mak<strong>in</strong>g it difficult to determ<strong>in</strong>e the impact <strong>of</strong> their neighbour<strong>in</strong>g First Nations<br />
cas<strong>in</strong>o. Each police service, however, anticipated some impact on local crime, specifically petty<br />
crimes, domestic assaults and fraud related to <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> addiction.<br />
Attitudes<br />
Aborig<strong>in</strong>al people presented a reveal<strong>in</strong>g cross-section <strong>of</strong> attitudes about <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong>. When asked<br />
about the benefits versus harm associated with <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> the 2008 and 2009 population<br />
surveys (Aborig<strong>in</strong>al subsample only), 62% <strong>of</strong> Aborig<strong>in</strong>al respondents stated that the harm<br />
outweighs the benefits and only 8.6% believed that the benefits outweigh the harm. Op<strong>in</strong>ion<br />
was less negative about their local cas<strong>in</strong>o. When asked about beneficial or harmful impacts <strong>of</strong><br />
their local cas<strong>in</strong>o an average <strong>of</strong> 34% stated that it was either somewhat or very beneficial<br />
compared with 40% <strong>in</strong>dicat<strong>in</strong>g that the effects were very or somewhat harmful. Similar to non-<br />
First Nations respondents (reported earlier) many more people <strong>in</strong>dicated that <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> was too<br />
widely available compared to those who did not believe is was available enough. Also similar to<br />
the non-First Nations results, EGMs were identified as the type <strong>of</strong> <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> people would most<br />
like to see made illegal, followed by animal fight<strong>in</strong>g, cas<strong>in</strong>o table games and Internet <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong>.<br />
Focus Group Assessment <strong>of</strong> Impacts<br />
Focus groups were held at the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation and the Cold Lake First Nations. Each<br />
<strong>of</strong> their cas<strong>in</strong>os is a rural cas<strong>in</strong>o, operat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a 50-km catchment area with less than 45,000<br />
local residents.<br />
Both First Nations feature dist<strong>in</strong>ctive cultural backgrounds with unique <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> and economic<br />
development traditions. The people at Alexis are Nakota, l<strong>in</strong>guistically related to the Lakota and<br />
Dakota <strong>of</strong> the larger Sioux Nation <strong>of</strong> Great Pla<strong>in</strong>s. The people at Cold Lake are Denesul<strong>in</strong>e who<br />
have long occupied the vast northern B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Northwest and<br />
Yukon Territories region. For the purposes <strong>of</strong> this section, a comparative framework is utilized<br />
to tease out community perceptions <strong>of</strong> cas<strong>in</strong>o-related positive and negative impacts, and to<br />
show how the two communities compare and differ from one another.<br />
Positive Impact <strong>of</strong> Cas<strong>in</strong>os<br />
When asked how the cas<strong>in</strong>o has positively impacted their community, participants from both<br />
focus groups trumpeted <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> revenues’ importance for fund<strong>in</strong>g local projects and<br />
improv<strong>in</strong>g community <strong>in</strong>frastructure. At Cold Lake, revenues have been used to hire a Dene<br />
Language Coord<strong>in</strong>ator to develop activities that encourage community <strong>in</strong>volvement. A<br />
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