Kahnawake pans casino proposal

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Fear of the unknown may have led the community of Kanawake to reject a proposal for a casino on the Mohawk reserve in Quebec, said Grand Chief Joe Norton.

Fear that the social costs to the community may outweigh the economic benefits is what caused the people to say 'No' in a referendum held July 2, Norton said. A total of 1,353 votes were cast in the referendum. The No-vote won by 97 votes with a total of 724 ballots; 627 voted yes. Two ballots were spoiled.

A lot of thought and soul-searching went into the decision. The people weren't just dead-set against a casino, said Norton.

"If there was a lot of emotion, a lot of anger that was involved, I believe I wouldn't have gotten elected again," said the chief.

Norton was a strong proponent of the casino project. He believes his support could have been his undoing in the council election, which was tied to the referendum vote.

It was the magnitude of the project that made people uncertain, Norton said. The proposal called for an investment of up to $154 million for a casino complex and could have created 2,500 jobs. The size of the project was not set in stone, however and was just an example of what could be done, Norton said.

"This was phase one of a number of other phases that had to kick in. We didn't want to go too far in advance and have a scale model and an artist's concept, begin negotiations with the province, start talking about designating land and hiring people and all the things that go along with it because then people would say 'You've gone too far - it's a done deal'."

But this type of information was ultimately what the people wanted and Norton's political opposition took full advantage of missing pieces. Certain people were very manipulative," Norton said.

With a no-vote at the referendum, the casino issue was laid to rest, said Norton.

"I, along with the council, cannot raise the issue any more, and I'm not going to speak to the issue anyone. It's dead, it's over with, it's done. It's the commitment that we gave to the community and I'm going to stick by that."

But the economic problems Norton hoped to address with the casino still remain. How to address these problems remains the conundrum.

Norton puts some stock in the work of the newly formed Canada/Mohawk Roundtable. Five federal ministers and three Mohawk chiefs are trying to address problems faced by the Mohawk Nations during the roundtable discussions.

The initiatives fleshed-out by the Roundtable will create a scenario that will bring economic development to the community, he said. This includes a reworking of the taxation policies that have caused such problems in Kanawake.

Norton warns the next three to five years will be difficult and predicts drastic cuts in government funding.

"We're going to have to do some belt-tightening."