Massive new Toronto casino angers Ontario First Nation

CTV National News: New casino angers First Nation Adrian Ghobrial reports on a First Nation feeling betrayed after a massive casino opened up which they say will deprive them of funding.

A First Nation community in Ontario believes it has been dealt an unfair hand by Doug Ford's government that could threaten its very existence.

The Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation (MSIFN), north of Toronto, owns the Great Blue Heron Casino.

Sitting down with CTV National News, Chief Kelly LaRocca calls the casino "the economic foundation and lifeblood of our community."

"It has brought us clean drinking water, enhanced health-care services and education," she said.

However, Ontario has green lit multiple new casinos in recent years and LaRocca believes the Ontario government has broken the terms of a deal the two signed seven years ago.

While the First Nation owns its casino, it's actually operated by Great Canadian Entertainment (GCE) and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG).

In 2016, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation signed a revenue-sharing agreement with the Ontario government, which in part states, "The Province and the First Nation intend that the Great Blue Heron continue to operate and be commercially viable."

Since that deal was signed, the GCE and OLG opened a new casino in Pickering, Ont., in 2021 and operate another in nearby Ajax.

This week, they added a massive new casino to their impressive stack of properties with the opening of the Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto.

The casino spans 33 acres and shares the grounds with Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack, making it one of the largest private developments in the country.

Speaking with CTV National News just hours before the venue opened to the public, GCE vice-president Chuck Keeling proudly proclaimed that, "This will be the largest casino resort in the country."

The sprawling space features 145 table games, 4,800 slot machines, 10 restaurants, and a soon-to-be-opened hotel and concert venue.

All of these offerings have led some Indigenous communities who also operate casinos to believe the deck has been stacked against them.

In doing so, LaRocca believes the Ontario government has violated the terms of their deal.

"The Ford government have broken their word to our community. It's hurting a lot of Indigenous people and we are going to have to take issue and fight against the cannibalization of gaming."

She told CTV National News that she believes the proliferation of mega casinos in her region is "an existential threat" to the future of her community.

However, Keeling says GCE doesn't agree with the chief's assessment, which in his opinion doesn't provide the full picture.

"We absolutely understand and respect the chief's position on this. All we can say is that we are trying to demonstrate our commitment to that property by investing tens of millions of dollars," he told CTV National News.

In a statement to CTV National News, the OLG noted that throughout the process of expanding the Woodbine Casino property, now called the Great Canadian Casino Resort, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation is subject to "ongoing discussions between OLG and its partners including existing Indigenous host communities."

LaRocca says the opening of the country's biggest casino in Toronto has created an uneven playing field.

She claims that part of her First Nation's agreement with the Ford government included that, "The Great Blue Heron would be protected and have a protected area around it, where no new gaming could proliferate and that promise has been broken through the opening of the casino in Pickering."

Scott Blodgett, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Finance, denied any such deal has been made with LaRocca, stating in an email that "the Province does not have an agreement not to open any more new land based casinos. It does have a Revenue Sharing Agreement with MSIFN in respect of the Great Blue Heron Casino."

The Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation are set to enter mediation with the Province of Ontario and LaRocca says she is ready to pursue legal action against the Ford government if her community isn't satisfied with the outcome.