Band takes province to court

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A band in southwest Saskatchewan is planning to take the province to court over the right to control gambling on their reserve.

The White Bear Band filed a statement of claim against the province of Saskatchewan last week challenging the jurisdiction of on-reserve gambling.

Ed Pasap, chairman of the board for the Bear Claw Casino, would not comment on the exact wording of the claim and details were not available at the time of publication.

But he said the band is not satisfied with the province's handling of the casino, and the on-reserve gambling issue.

On Aug. 23, the province extended the casino's temporary operating licence until early October, but Pasap said that is not good enough.

"We have to sit down with a government that we don't think has any jurisdiction," he said.

The Bear Claw Casino has been at the centre of an on-going dispute between the White Bear Band and the provincial government over the right of Natives to manage their own gaming houses.

The casino, which opened last February, was operated for only a few weeks before an RCMP SWAT team stormed the facility in a pre-dawn raid. Casino staff were detained while police confiscated all the gambling equipment, including slot machines, roulette tables and video lottery terminals.

The band's chief Bernard Sheppard and the casino's American supplier were later charged.

Negotiation between the band, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the province continued until an agreement was reached in early June to operate the casino in conjunction with a local exhibition association.

The province has been granting temporary operating licences to the casino since then.

A spokesman for the Saskatchewan Gaming Commission said the province is waiting on the suit.