Casino Rama, Mama… needs Big Brother
June 30th, 2006 | by MadHacktress |Accompanying article:
Casino Rama cash cow is sacred, off-limits to provincial auditors
$1B in Casino Rama cash caught in public info void
Bazillions of dollars are received by Casino Rama each year - more realistically, about 90-ish million, but you get the point. This money is distributed and spent by the First Nations of Ontario on various things that they require - like homes and food. The necessities. But no one knows if it is actually being spent that way - why? Because the organisation responsible for the distribution of the monies, the Ontario First Nations Limited Partnership is - by virtue of the “limited” (and probably a bunch of legal documents much less nominally interesting) - a private corporation. They are, thus, not accountable to the Auditor General for their income.
Do I think they aught to be?
You bet your sweet bippy, I do.
If the First Nations received no racially specific supplimentary subsidisation by the governments then I wouldn’t care. It’s their own business to run as they please. But, they get other money - our money - from us. So, if they can afford to spent 450,000$ on concert tickets and sporting events (example, not actual allegation) then why do they need my coin, too? They’ve obviously learned to make a go of it all by themselves.
Basic oversight and transparency are required - both governmental and through independant public review - in cases that, even indirectly, involve taxpayers’ funds. We, by way of our government, subsidize the First Nations.
The OFNLP was established with the agreement and mandate to allocate monies to be spent on community development, health, education, economic and cultural programs. What is the point of establishing guidelines if there is no oversight or accountability?
I don’t begrudge the money to the people who benefit from Casino Rama in fact when it comes to the debate about whether it’s a good idea that casino money be spent by First Nations (as in, does it promote bad behaviour) I personally think they if the people who benefit don’t have a problem, why should we? But. My tax dollars are being spent in the same areas as the Rama money is intended to be spent in. If Rama money isn’t going there but is being diverted someplace else - someplace unapproved - then that’s a problem for me. This money was intended to supliment, if not replace, the dependancy on government sponsorship and specific tax relief for First Nations. It is my hope that, one day, there will be no such necessary division between First Nations and the rest of Canada with regard to social services.
It shouldn’t be necessary. And that’s not some chicken joke.
Saskatchewan has an oversight in place for their First Nations’ gaming facilities and in the past has shone the spotlight on gross misspendings. 500,000$ in 2004 alone. Their system is somewhat different and monies from the casinos flow in such a way that they naturally fall within easy oversight regulations.
I don’t get why the OFNLP wouldn’t want the oversight in the first place. Transparency can only help make sure that everyone, all the way down the line, is doing their job. The ultimate purpose of this whole arrangement is to help people, plain and simple. Why wouldn’t the OFNLP want to make sure that that is happening? These organisations, the public spending auditors who work to highlight these misspendings, are specifically set up to do so. They know their business.
In my opinion where there’s secrecy, there are secrets.
You can look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls.
Entry Filed under: In The News, Pure Opinion
note: playing nice involves telling people about ottawa music. which involves telling them about a website. which is dial613.blogspot.com.
no gratuitous advertising or what not. i think it’s a pretty handy site that some people could like. but i’m biased.