Raid no way to resolve dispute

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Timing was the only element of surprise in the RCMP and Dakota-Ojibway Tribal Police raids on five reserves in southern Manitoba. Tensions have been rising for months between a government that wants to keep its monopoly on gambling and communities determined to assert their rights.

The fact raids seemed almost inevitable doesn't make them any easier to take. Police did make a huge haul of illegal equipment - just a few dozen video machines and some bingo cards that are easy to find in Manitoba hotels and communities,.

The Manitoba government and police appear to have wanted to flex a bit of muscle during the early morning operations. Strong-arm tactics are not the best way to resolve disputes.

Gambling is a question of jurisdiction for band councils and the needs and wants

of individual communities struggling for self-sufficiency. The police raids are a serious

setback to future negotiations that will be essential to settling this issue in a fairer manner.

Ottawa is the only government outside band councils that can exert authority on reserves. It must make Indian gaming a priority before relations between bands and provincial governments deteriorate further.