A Legal Battle That Needs Settling MCK Sues iGaming Ontario and MAG

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) has sued iGaming Ontario and the Attorney General of Ontario for the illegal and unconstitutional regulations and practices through which they are running the province’s new online sports betting market.

Ontario’s “unilateral re-interpretation” of the Law

According to the MCK, the province’s officials and agencies have manufactured their own interpretation of the “conduct and manage” law which iGaming Ontario is meant to adhere to in the regulation of all authorized online gambling in the province. Essentially, Ontario has illegally abdicated its own responsibility onto private operators and service providers.

In fact, in April this year, the province officially launched iGaming while allowing third-party operators to offer online gambling and sports betting. The firms need to be licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and retain 80 percent of the profit generated by their sites.

In keeping with MCK’s notice of application, the AGCO issued guidelines for independent operators including big brands like Spin Casino, where it outlined that private entities would have the authority over the site as well as “ongoing responsibility for the gaming site as a whole, including key decision-making activities.”

This goes against the Criminal Code, as pointed out by Eric Doucet, MCK’s in-house legal advisor, who insisted that it is the “provinces [who] really need to be the controlling mind of the lottery scheme.”

Doucet repudiated Ontario’s “unilateral reinterpretation of the conduct and manage provisions of the Criminal code” and plainly explained: “What they’ve done is they’ve registered operators to essentially do the conducting and the managing of the lottery schemes for them.”

Ontario’s iGaming Regime – A Threat to MCK’s Position

The Kahnawà:ke nation has been operating and regulating safe and responsible gaming for the past 25 years. This role extends to the global online gaming industry, though it is currently shut out of the Ontario market.

Quoting MCK’s elected Council Chief, Michael Delisle, Jr., “We feel that the legal basis for Ontario’s iGaming scheme needs to be challenged in the Courts and is being used to cause irreparable harm to Kahnawà:ke’s own legitimate and well-established gaming industry.”

Prior Attempts by MCK to Discuss the Issue Proved Futile

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke further accused Ontario officials and the Justice Minister of failing to engage in a meaningful way with the MCK over the concerns and claims of the tribal nation.

In a press release issued by the MCK, it was revealed that there were several attempts to discuss the issue with both Ontarian officials and Canada’s Justice Minister David Lametti, but to no avail.

The Crux of the Matter in a Nutshell

MCK’s elected Council Chief, Michael Delisle, Jr. summed up very clearly the main issues underlying this legal battle: “The plain facts are that Ontario has implemented an iGaming scheme, which is based on a very tenuous legal foundation, that is causing a significant loss of revenues for our community. Until Ontario sought to impose its ill-designed reinterpretation of ‘conduct and manage’ on operators and service providers, Kahnawà:ke was able to successfully operate across Canada in a regulated manner.”

Delisle further highlighted the repercussions of the province’s re-appropriation of the Criminal Code: “The Ontario’s iGaming framework will have devastating effects on a source of income that has supplemented programs and services in our community for the last two decades.”  

The main reason why this legal battle is being sought out by MCK in the first place is Ontario’s illegal abdication of their own responsibility to “conduct and manage” online gambling in the province. By shifting this responsibility onto private operators and service providers, the province has severely impacted tribal revenues. Unfortunately, prior attempts by MCK to discuss this matter with iGaming Ontario and the Justice Minister proved futile.