Kahnawake and Quebec government in talks

APTN National News in Canada reported over the weekend that Quebec’s minister of aborigine affairs, Geoffrey Kelley, had talks last week with representatives from Kahnawake, arguably one of the largest internet gambling hosting services in the world.

The subject was the contentious and long-running issue of online gambling, where the Quebec government has claimed it is the only legal licensing and regulating authority for the province, whilst the Kahnawake claim sovereign rights in their First Nation enclave just outside Montreal.

Earlier this year the provincial government ramped up the rhetoric by proposing in its Economic Action Plan that consideration be given to prosecutions, ISP blocking and financial disruption against illegal online operators competing with its own online offerings under the Espace Jeux brand owned by Loto Quebec .

These implied threats were largely shrugged off but have apparently not gone away, and the Kahnawake Council reportedly initiated last week’s meeting with Minister Kelley, who promised to investigate the issue after a “good discussion” in order to achieve clarity.

In a video interview (see link below) Kahnawake Grand Chief Michael Delisle explained his position and the possible consequences of the sort of measures contemplated by the Quebec Economic Action Plan.

http://aptn.ca/news/2015/04/24/quebec-eyes-move-kahnawake-hosted-online-gambling-servers/