MCK responds to Quebec Bill 74

06/02/2016

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) today responded to the recent enactment of Québec’s Bill 74 – specifically the provisions of the Bill that are intended to prevent the residents of Québec from accessing any online gaming site, other than sites offered or sanctioned by Loto-Québec.

“We have a number of serious concerns about Bill 74,” said Chief Gina Deer, who holds the MCK gaming portfolio. “Masquerading as consumer protection, Bill 74 is clearly designed to revive Loto-Québec’s struggling gaming offering by forcing Québec consumers to play on Loto-Québec’s site only – despite the fact that the 2014 Nadeau Report found “…it is hard to conclude that (Loto-Québec) is achieving the objectives that it set itself in respect to secure, honest gambling (as) there is no external mechanism for the monitoring and control of online gaming.”

Since the enactment of the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Law in 1996, the gaming industry has become an important socio-economic engine for the community of Kahnawà:ke. Gaming has created much-needed revenue for public purposes and provided skilled employment for the people of Kahnawà:ke, and many from outside the community.

“Bill 74 appears to be a deliberate effort to undermine the online gaming industry that Kahnawà:ke has successfully built over the past 17 years and we are actively weighing our options to ensure that Kahnawà:ke’s interests are protected,” Chief Deer added. “We have tried to work with Québec to create a win-win solution that benefits all, but it seems they prefer to work alone when it comes to gaming.”

The MCK is not alone in raising concerns about Bill 74. Constitutional experts have declared that it is outside the scope of a province’s jurisdiction to restrict Internet content in this way. Civil libertarians have criticized Bill 74 as an unlawful incursion by the government into an individual’s right to decide what content she or he can access on the Internet.