Do our First Nations really have the right to self-governance?

Not Alberta's Alexander First Nation, according to Alberta's Gaming and Liquor Commission. In February, the Cree band, located 20 miles north of Edmonton, drew the Ire of the AGLC for establishing its own gaming commission with the intent of hosting offshore online gaming casinos on its land. The AGLC emphatically states such an operation flies in the face of the Criminal Code, and it will investigate whether or not the Alexander are hosting sites.

But that's not how Alexander Chief Raymond Arcand sees it. "We're on federal land, we're under the federal responsibility, and under the Indian Act it gives us the authority to make our own laws pertaining to this Issue." Although the Department of Indian Affairs washes its hands of any responsibility to mediate the dispute, the Alexander are not alone. The Kahnawake band in Quebec has been hosting online casinos since 1999, In spite of that province's regulations.

The Alexander have already spent millions converting an old hockey arena into a data centre. Cheryl Giblon, marketing supervisor for ENation Corp., the Calgary firm hired to build the centre, says it's operational. Onlookers are saying all the band will have to do is prove to a court that gambling is as much a part of being native as hunting and fishing--and the province would be powerless to stop them. Until then, they'll have to obey the province's governance.

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