The odds of placing a full-service casino in the Energy City may have moved a little closer to the reality side following a public presentation by the casino's proposed developers, Little Pine First Nation.
Little Pine chief Wayne Semaganis and the band's economic development officer Evan Schemenauer spoke to about 70 people in the Estevan Legion Hall on April 15, providing some answers to a host of questions surrounding the proposal that is only in a formative stage. Estevanites will be asked to express their opinion on the topic in a referendum question that will be posed to them in today's city council byelection balloting.
Using information they have already gathered for a similar casino proposal in Lloydminster that is further along on the planning scale, Schemenauer and Semaganis said the proposal still has to gain the approval of the provincial government. The plan is to build the two casinos outside the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) jurisdiction, making them an economic development project for Little Pine and the cities.
Schemenauer explained that the SIGA construction and management model is inefficient with poor returns on investment and is not one to be emulated. The two presenters noted that the SIGA board of directors is politically motivated rather than economically driven.
That would be avoided in the Little Pine plan since the directors would be an independent economic development body. The casino and operators would have no association with the Battleford Tribal Council, which includes the Little Pine First Nations, but rather would have one with the City of Estevan.
Speaking in general terms, Schemenauer said the casino proposal in Estevan, if it included a conference and entertainment centre along with a hotel and gas station, would be about a $75 million investment. An accompanying apartment to be built nearby to accommodate casino staff as well as local residents, would be built in a second phase and would not necessarily have to be built on reserve land. But, the casino and gas station would have to gain up to 20 acres for reserve status to enable the project to move on under the Community Development Corporation requirements of the Gaming Framework Agreement. The housing project would require about nine acres.
"I know as the chief, we won't try to force anything on anybody," said Semaganis in his opening remarks. As a former casino manager, the chief said he has gathered important economic development knowledge since being elected to the role, and that included using professionally trained people like Schemenauer, who came aboard about four years ago to help the First Nations community utilize its resource funds and plan for the future. Little Pine has 1,600 band members with about half of them living on the reserve that is located halfway between Lloydminster and North Battleford.
"We also hired a professional agrologist in 1992, and he's still with us," said Semaganis
The band still has access to up to 40,000 acres they can use under the Treaty Land Act.
The two casinos would be managed by a team of experienced casino managers from across Western Canada.
The presenters pointed out that Lloydminster and Estevan were the last two viable communities in the province that could host a casino concept, and they enjoyed similar economic models.
"The urban reserve needs to look like the rest of the city and requires the same services as any other business," said Schemenauer, who added the ideal location would provide easy visibility, and access, possibly along a main highway or thoroughfare.
"We would complement what the City can do. We don't look for breaks or special consideration. We can fit into any community and run a business. We need to break the image and gaming is a touchy issue. There are addictions, we don't duck the question, but with best practices, the dangers are reduced," said Semaganis.
Little Pine has already entered into discussions with the nearby White Bear band council who have endorsed the plan, having captured the essence of the plan to work in concert, not as opposites.
"We have oil royalties, and we were able to fix some things on the reserve starting in 1992, but now we want to use royalty money for the future, for when the wells run dry," Semaganis added.
Little Pine already has preliminary approval from Petro-Canada to construct a gas station in Estevan, and the plans for an Estevan casino may or may not include a conference centre that would seat up to 700 at tables or 1,500 bench style.
"There are no major First Nations economic players in Estevan right now," said Semaganis, referring to the city's introduction to the plan. But it was obvious Little Pine had done a bit of homework on the city, especially the lack of affordable housing, thus the second phase proposal for an apartment complex to house 200 or more.
The plan for Estevan would see 25 per cent of ensuing profits going into a local not-for-profit community development corporation.
"We would play by the same business rules as the others. The gas station could sell tax free tobacco and fuel to First Nations people. That's the only difference," he said.
A fee would be paid to the City that would be equivalent to what a regular business would pay in property taxes.
The casino in Estevan would feature 300 slot machines with room for expansion if needed. And a sportsbook if provincial regulations could be changed, would attract a lot of additional traffic, especially nearby American neighbours, they said.
The casino would provide about 200 new jobs and Schemenauer said Little Pine would hold only a minor partnership interest once the total package rolled out.
The hotel would feature 100 rooms to accommodate stay and play packages for visitors.
Tribal Design and Construction of Kansas City would be the lead contractor to build the casino due to their experience of having already built 40 casinos in North America, they said.
"We can help you reduce Estevan's debt of nearly $38 million," said Semaganis, suggesting a vibrant casino would be putting $800,000 to $1.6 million back into the community based on a profit projection of about $20 million.
Besides the 200 jobs in the casino, the attached hotel would provide another 50 jobs and the gas station, a further eight to 12 employees.
The SIGA-run casinos, said the economic development officer, have too many employees, they were overly expensive to build and the construction and lease-back business plan just didn't make any sense on an economic front. They also suffer from loan interest rates that are too high and many of their casino decisions are based on First Nations politics, the two men said.
Later, during a question and answer period, the concerns surrounding addictions and housing surfaced again. Semaganis noted that "VLTs have claimed the addicts already and they've been around 20 years. The other gamblers are already going to casinos. Our community development plan would help pay for addictions counselors, and we'd insist that they reside and work in Estevan, not from Weyburn," said Semaganis, in response to a concern that the health region controlled the dispatch of counsellors from their headquarters in that nearby city.
In response to the housing issue, the two men said they saw the proposed apartment as being necessary even though it would impact the bottom line at first.
"We couldn't operate without it due to current Estevan housing costs and availability," said Semaganis. He added there would also be a home to work transit plan to assist employees going to and from work. He said the job placement plan in other locations has helped hundreds get off social assistance and welfare systems with long-term employment.
"We figure our requests for Lloydminster and Estevan could take as long as two years to gain approval because we're proposing something outside of SIGA," Semaganis said.
Other concerns regarding working poor spending money in casinos, creating split families and accommodating the schooling needs for First Nations families, were raised from the floor with the response being that it would be a partnership plan at all levels whether it be educational pressures, social services, counselling or victim services. The two men pointed out that previous histories indicate very little security and policing issues around casino businesses since they have strong security measures in place at the outset.
"We won't be here just to make money. We're involved in education, health issues and social issues. We're in this together, if you want us," Semaganis said.
The chief said Little Pine is not just about casinos noting they have been involved in the construction of other projects such as a low-cost housing project in Saskatoon and Prince Albert and a couple of hospitals, too.
Following the formal portion of the meeting that was chaired by Michel Cyrenne, the Estevan Chamber of Commerce executive director, the two stayed behind to chat with interested citizens and point out various features of the plan that were put in graphic form on easels at the front of the hall.
