Karen Brownlee, Leader-Post, Published: Saturday, May 05, 2007
SWIFT CURRENT — The elders crossed the 10 acres of dry, cracked earth where Saskatchewan’s final casino is to be built so they could offer tobacco to the spirits to ensure the project runs smoothly and its benefits are realized.
When they returned, one of the elders began reciting a prayer. As he spoke, raindrops dotted the earth as well as the 100 people gathered around him.
Those raindrops were significant to Chief Alice Pahtayken of the Nekaneet First Nation.
“The elders always tell us when there are raindrops that means the spirits are honouring us,” she told those gathered in a conference room of a nearby hotel following the elders’ ceremony and the groundbreaking for the Living Sky Casino.
Nekaneet is one of 11 First Nations in the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council that bought the land for the Living Sky Casino. Together with the City of Swift Current, the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority and the Government of Saskatchewan, they have gotten the project through most of the approval processes. It will be another 18 months until the casino opens, but the benefits and challenges are already being felt.
The idea for the casino came from business people in Swift Current looking to revitalize the city’s economy about seven years ago.
“At that time, our economy was very stagnant,” said Swift Current Mayor Sandy Larson. “We were hoping we could get something to draw people off the highway.”
While the idea of a casino had been tossed around before, Larson said it wasn’t until local hotel owner Bill Thacker called SIGA in the summer of 2000 that someone did more than talk about it.
Edmund Bellegarde remembers Thacker’s call. At the time, Bellegarde was the CEO of SIGA, but is now the tribal chairman of the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council. It wasn’t something SIGA had considered, so Bellegarde said he’d talk to others.
Two years later, the project found momentum. SIGA officials wanted to know what other ventures the city was interested in pursuing. That caught the attention of the Swift Current Allied Arts Council. For decades, they wanted a home so local, national and international artists performing in the city had a more appropriate venue.
“A stand-alone facility would have cost $12 (million) to $15 million,” said Larson. “A city our size could never afford a facility like that. It was a win-win situation for everyone.”
Selling a casino to the community was something Bellegarde and SIGA knew was vital to the process. The gaming agreement the provincial government has with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations requires the community and municipality to support the project before the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority will approve it.
“The community sometimes has a ‘not in my backyard’ attitude. It takes a lot of patience (and) a lot of perseverance to educate the public that we’re not in this just for profit-taking,” said Bellegarde, who was with SIGA until early 2006.
One way SIGA’s casinos give back is through their Community Development Corporations. One-quarter of casino net profits are provided to the CDCs to be dispersed to the hundreds of organizations working on health, justice, education, recreation, culture, and infrastructure initiatives.
Another portion of SIGA’s net profits go to the provincial government’s general revenue fund that pays for the province’s education, health, highways and other systems. In 2005-06, that was 37.5 per cent of SIGA’s $40.2-million net income.
Still Bellegarde knew not everyone was going to be in favour, but in 2003, he found enough were. A plebiscite held that year found 55 per cent of voters supported the casino. Bellegarde was in Swift Current on election night to monitor the results.
“Some of our supporters were a little disappointed that (support) wasn’t stronger,” he said.
“I reminded them that evening that at the start, 35 per cent of the public are opposed to gambling activity of any kind … Of the remaining 65 per cent, we got a very strong mandate.”
Bellegarde could tell the community was not only getting behind the casino, but also the aboriginal people involved in the project. While he says the southwest region has significant meaning for our province’s aboriginal people, their numbers are low in Swift Current. In 2001, Statistics Canada recorded 285 aboriginal people living in the city of 15,000.
For a week in October 2004, their numbers swelled when the FSIN held its fall assembly in Swift Current. That week, Bellegarde said businesses around the city posted signs welcoming the chiefs and residents greeted them on the street.
It was also that week Premier Lorne Calvert announced in Swift Current his government was approving the casino. Less than three months later, his government approved an amendment to the gaming agreement.
“We feel the market is at a saturation point,” said SLGA Minister Deb Higgins. “It would be pretty difficult if not impossible to approve anything else … In the foreseeable future, this is it — the last casino we can see being approved for Saskatchewan.”
To buy the land for the casino, the 11 First Nations of the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council each contributed an equal share of funds. Those First Nations are Carry the Kettle, Little Black Bear, Muscowpetung, Okanese, Pasqua, Peepeekisis, Piapot, Standing Buffalo, Star Blanket, Wood Mountain and Nekaneet. A parcel of land just off the Trans-Canada Highway was purchased making Living Sky the only casino in Saskatchewan next to Canada’s main highway.
“The market is 100 miles around the casino, but because we’re on the Trans-Canada Highway, there is access to one million cars that pass by the site (every year),” said Bellegarde. “We feel we’re going to attract people internationally from down south and from across Western Canada, but a lot of people from the East Coast make their trip across Canada on the Trans-Canada.”
The tribal council will finance the construction of the building while SIGA will manage the exterior and interior design and furnishings and then operate the facility. The casino will have 220 slot machines and 10 table games. In the multi-function theatre, there will be seating for 600.
Story boards will explain the 11 First Nations as well as the five linguistic groups in the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council. The building will also reflect southwest Saskatchewan, including natural materials found in the area.
“When our elders chose (the name) Living Sky, it fit the landscape,” said Bellegarde.
“This territory, the Cypress Hills Region, has a lot of history for us both from a spiritual and cultural context to a hunting and winter haven context. Cypress Hills is a sacred park.”
It was decided Nekaneet would ensure the casino’s land becomes an urban reserve. While Nekaneet is an hour and a half away from Swift Current near the Alberta border, it is the closest First Nation to the city.
Last year, Nekaneet signed a municipal services agreement with the City of Swift Current, one of the steps in creating an urban reserve. Another step is a ratification vote in July. If 50 per cent plus one of Nekaneet’s eligible voters agree to turn the land into an urban reserve, the matter goes to Indian Affairs for the federal minister to approve.
All other approvals are in place. Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming has approved the $35-million construction cost of building the 50,000-square-foot facility. Financing for the project is in place with Concentra Financial and the Bank of Montreal.
Construction is to begin in June. That is one of the project’s challenges. Swift Current is growing rapidly and construction labour for other projects, such as the newly built regional hospital, has at times been difficult to find.
“Graham Construction is the general contractor for the project,” said Bellegarde. “Trailers and workers will be moving down onto the site later this summer. We hope that their database of labour and their experience in Saskatchewan in projects as large as this will certainly pay off.”
Finding enough aboriginal workers will also be a challenge, but he feels SIGA can manage.
Not only will the tourists bring new money to the city, but so will the employees moving there. FSIN Vice-Chief Morley Watson points to Yorkton’s Painted Hand Casino’s 200 employees earning a combined $7 million to show what is possible for Swift Current.
“Those working people support the community by purchasing goods and services — homes, vehicles, furniture, electronics and the list goes on,” he said.
Finding enough places for the employees to live is another challenge. The housing market in Swift Current is tight with new subdivisions being completed. “We’re going to come up with some creative options that we’ll be unveiling as the project continues,” said Bellegarde.
Another challenge exists in the community. While some may be concerned about problem gambling with the introduction of the casino, one Swift Current man says it is already there.
John attends Gamblers Anonymous meetings in Swift Current. Last April he realized his spending on VLTs was soon going to cost him his house and possibly his relationship with his daughter.
“They’re in every restaurant and every bar in the city,” said John, who didn’t share his last name just as he doesn’t at his meetings. “They’re everywhere. You just have to get used to them being around. The casino isn’t going to change that.”
John is certain many more in Swift Current need help than the three others who attend meetings with him. Higgins agrees and says resources are there.
“About two per cent of the gaming population have a problem,” said Higgins. “Saskatchewan has about the second-highest per-capita spending on problem gambling (in Canada).”
John first called the province’s Problem Gambling Helpline. While he could have participated in a day treatment program in Regina, he chose instead to initiate the Gamblers Anonymous group in Swift Current.
While amendments to the gaming agreement for the Dakota Dunes Casino provide another $500,000 for problem gambling programs for First Nations, there aren’t any additional resources associated with the Living Sky Casino. In all, $4.5 million will be spent on problem gambling in the province once Dakota Dunes opens.
As the partners in the project wait for the opening of the Living Sky Casino still many months away, their excitement continues to build.
“The unique partnership with the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council, Nekaneet First Nation, SIGA and the government of Saskatchewan will create significant possibilities for our community to expand and grow,” said Larson.
But others say the benefits go beyond the city’s limits.
As Saskatchewan’s aboriginal population continues to grow — by 2045, 40 per cent of our province’s people will be First Nations — the FSIN’s Watson says all of Saskatchewan’s people need to continue to working together on projects like the casinos.
“We need to take every opportunity to generate an economy that is needed for tomorrow … This project is not just for First Nations, but for everyone,” said Watson.
“We want to build a better future and of course, hope, for our young people that Saskatchewan is a dynamic, progressive and willing partner for First Nations for a better tomorrow.”
