Deal to share profits thrashed out by chiefs

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A tentative agreement has been reached on sharing $350 million in net profits from Casino Rama.

The agreement, reached at the beginning of February between the province and Ontario's 134 First Nations, calls for 65 per cent of the profits to be shared between the bands, with the Mnjikaning First Nation at the casino site getting the balance.

That amounts to about $123 million for the First Nation, located a 90-minute drive north of Toronto.

The $350 million represents the net profits for three years of operation of the casino. The money was held by the province until an agreement could be thrashed out.

"It's been a long, long process, so we are very pleased an agreement has finally been reached," said Mnjikaning Chief Lorraine McRae.

"The agreement is very specific about how the money will be used," she said.

The deal reaffirms an agreement made during an all-Ontario chiefs' conference last summer that would see each First Nation, including Mnjikaning, spend the money on economic and community development, education, health and cultural endeavors, she said.

The profit sharing will continue on the basis laid out in the agreement until July 2001, when the matter will again be discussed by the Ontario chiefs.

Some of the money received by Mnjikaning will be spent on developing businesses to complement the casino. The band has already built a retail mall that contains a bank and a pharmacy. It will be looking for other opportunities, said McRae.

Mnjikaning, which beat out 13 other First Nations to become the host site of Ontario's first Aboriginal casino, is also hoping to start construction soon on a 300-room, all suite, four star hotel with a 5,000 seat multi-purpose entertainment centre to equal resort hotels in Las Vegas.

"The primary objective is to promote First Nations training and employment," said McRae.

All this has meant a big change in lifestyle for the band members on the once sleepy reserve where the people have cherished their traditional role as Keepers of the Fish Fence. The weir system of ancient timbers has trapped fish in the Atherley Narrows between Rama and Orillia for more than 4,500 years and is one of the oldest human developments in North America.

Until the casino, unemployment on the reserve was about 80 per cent, with most of the young families leaving the community to work in Toronto.

Now there's full employment on the reserve with about 600 First Nations people from Ontario also employed at the casino.

Yet only a handful are in senior management positions, which is something McRae would like to see changed.

As part of the casino deal, Mnjikaning negotiated a $6 million arena and sports complex and a new senior's home to be built in the community at the same time as the casino.

"We have to be mindful of our youth and of our Elders," said McRae.

The increased employment opportunities have brought young families back to the reserve and, last year, a new eight-room elementary school was opened on the reserve just down the road from the casino. The only school before it closed its doors in the 1950s.

The casino has also provided an opportunity for Aboriginal artists to display their artwork. The Mnjikaning Art Studio decorated the outside of the casino with giant murals depicting traditional art. This custom has continued with Mnjikaning artists invited to paint murals on other buildings in the community.

While economic prosperity has come with the casino there have also been some problems.

Some band members have become addicted to gambling, and others find it difficult dealing with the more than 4.6 million annual visitors to the casino.