The Saskatchewan government has asked the RCMP to investigate after a former First Nations chief set up an online gambling website.
Bernard Shepherd from the White Bear First Nation has launched a new gaming site at www.northernbearcasino.com.
Under the Criminal Code gambling must be authorized by a province.
Acting justice minister Don Morgan says Saskatchewan did not approve Shepherd’s operation, which is hosted offshore and is not physically in Saskatchewan.
Shepherd says he’s operating under the same treaty rights as when he opened the province’s first Indian casino in 1993, in defiance of Saskatchewan gaming laws.
The RCMP shut it down, but eventually a deal was struck in which the province and First Nations share casino profits.
(The Canadian Press)