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"Alexander First Nation are now and have always been sovereign Native peoples."
The Alexander Gaming Commission (AGC) has responded strongly to warnings by the Alberta authorities that it may be breaking the law by setting up a Kahnawake-like online gambling jurisdiction and hosting facilities for licensees.
The warnings from provincial officials came in the wake of a major development by the tribe of Alexander Internet Technologies (AIT), which has built a 25 000 square foot state-of-the-art Data Center offering services to companies on a commercial and licensed basis. Businesses likely to use the facility are oil and gas, media and film, imaging, and online gaming, along with other First Nations communities and businesses.
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Alexander Internet Technologies has been licenced by the Alexander Gaming Commission as an internet service provider and data centre to offer hosting services to AGC-licenced online gaming businesses.
The tribe's statement vows that the people of the Alexander First Nation are now and have always been sovereign Native peoples, and claims that Chief Ray Arcand and the Council of Alexander First Nation have consistently and historically exercised ultimate and exclusive jurisdiction over the territory of the Alexander First Nation.
It goes on to argue that the Alexander First Nation has existing, inherent and inalienable rights which includes the right of self-determination; the right to control economic development within the Alexander First Nation territory; and the right to promote and preserve peace, order and good government within its territory.
"The Alexander First Nation entered into a treaty with Canada in 1876, and has had ongoing governmental relationships with Canada since then. This predates Alberta's 1905 entry into Canada by 29 years," the statement points out. "As gaming and gaming related activities have a significant impact on economic development and peace, order and good government within its territory, the Alexander First Nation has the ultimate and exclusive right and jurisdiction to regulate gaming and gaming related activities within the Alexander First Nation territory."
Quoting section 35 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the statement claims that the Province of Alberta does not have any jurisdictional authority to govern the Alexander First Nation, and that the Alexander First Nation has a "...deep and long running history of initiating, participating in and regulating gaming activities, which are integral to the culture of the Community."
The statement ends with an affirmation that the Chief and Council of the Alexander First Nation, as the governing body in and for its territory, has the power and authority to enact the Alexander First Nation Gaming Law.
Its creation of the Alexander Gaming Commission, setting guidelines for operation of online gambling is therefore legal, and that body's licencing of Alexander Internet Technologies as an Internet Service Provider and Data Centre Licence is legitimate.
Chief Arcand said: "We have cooperated fully and have sought to meet with the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission and the Government of Alberta, but our requests have been refused or ignored. The Government of Alberta desires to ignore our sovereignty and our right to regulate online gaming transacted within our territory, along with all of the positives of our developing economic independence, and has chosen to launch this attack.�
STOP PRESS: As we went to press this week it looked as if a major confrontation was shaping up between the Alexander Band and the Alberta law enforcement apparatus. Responding to the tribe's assertion of its sovereignty, Solicitor General Fred Lindsay said: "All that concerns me is defending the law. I understand the band has special rights. But they still fall under the Criminal Code of Canada. I expect them to abide by the law.
�If they don�t, we will do what we have to do. We�ll (lay charges). You bet.�
The Code forbids gaming operations not licensed by a provincial government. But the Alexander Gaming Commission is still negotiating with a handful of international e-gambling operations for the lease of server space in the band�s 25 000-square-foot data centre. No contracts have been inked yet.
The Edmonton Sun reports that the Alexander band seeks to follow the example of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake in Quebec, which runs $20 million worth of Internet gaming from its own data centre, estimating that the band earns $2 million a year from the business.
Kahnawake Chief Mike Bush said the band council is still �negotiating� with their provincial government to sanction its gaming operation. Many industry observers say Quebec hasn�t moved to stop Kahnawake�s Internet gaming operation for fear of sparking a repeat of the 1990 standoff between armed Mohawks, police and soldiers over the planned expansion of a golf course. A policeman died during that siege.
�What they�re doing is a violation of the Criminal Code, but the Quebec government won�t confront them because it doesn�t want another Oka crisis on its hands,� said gaming analyst Robert Williams of the University of Lethbridge.
Chief Bush said the situation in Alberta doesn�t have to go that far; Alexander has a �50-50� chance of winning its case in court.
�I think the province is going to have a problem convincing a court that their reading of the law is the right one,� he said.
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