gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

Post-Script: Barriers to Participation
The present research project was provincially mandated, and the Alberta Gaming and Liquor
Commission instructed all casino operators, by a letter, to participate with researchers to assist
in determining the cost/benefit of gambling in Alberta. Several barriers to successful First
Nations participation in the project obstructed researcher’s data collection abilities. Reasons
for not participating range from fears that the project, once completed, could lead to casino
closures; and that First Nations’ possess a self-governing right to keep researchers from
entering their communities. The following three categories were thematically derived after
reviewing the collected data compiled from personal researcher experiences, focus groups,
informal interviews, and newspaper contents analysis.
Navigating First Nations Government Bureaucracy
The data collection process was significantly hampered by an inability to gain band council
approval to contact community members as study participants. The purpose of approaching
the band councils was to show proper respect for their governing authority. We spent
significant time navigating the various band council bureaucracies in search of the individual
who could grant researchers community access; or who was assigned the task of bringing our
concerns before the chief and council. While difficulties were experienced generally, our
experience with the Stoney Nakoda First Nation is instructive.
Starting in May 2008, a project researcher contacted the band council secretary and asked to
be put through the appropriate individual to review our requests. Over a period of several
months, dozens of telephone messages were left with various council members. None were
returned. When we finally secured a contact that individual quit within weeks, and the new
contact showed little interest in the project. To those who raised concerns that participatory
action research or similar methodologies were not being utilized, we informed them that we
had made allowance for hiring community individuals to facilitate data collection.
All of this produced limited returns. We expanded our limited contact list, and thus began to
make progress with hopes of producing a face-to-face meeting. However, a band council
election was called resulting in a number of our contacts being voted out of office. The new
chief and council did not want to hear from us immediately, and despite promises to eventually
do so our requests to present to band council were all denied. When an invitation was
extended to appear before chief and council, it was often delivered with little more than an
hour’s notice. Finally, several untimely deaths and serious accidents occurred within the
community resulting in postponed or cancelled meetings.
One year into the project no progress had occurred at Stoney. It was the last First Nations
casino to open, meaning that there was little to no data to draw from to determine the casino’s
socio-economic impacts to the First Nation itself or nearby communities such as Canmore and
Banff.
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