In six to eight months, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation could become the owners of the slot machine-based casino located in the Hastings Racecourse building at Hastings Park in Vancouver.
That’s how long Chief Jen Thomas expects it to take for her nation and the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation to finalize a deal for the purchase of the casino business and acquire the leases for adjacent properties such as a child-care facility, horse stables and parking lot.
The deal, however, does not include Hastings Racecourse.
Thomas said it was Great Canadian that approached the nation about selling the casino business. That first meeting then led to an invitation from Thomas for Great Canadian officials to further discuss a potential deal in the nation’s council chamber.
“We met with them, we discussed the opportunity and we said, ‘Hey, now this sounds very interesting, let's dig deeper into it,’” she told BIV Thursday in a telephone interview.
'Definitive agreement'
The nation and gaming corporation have entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding for an agreement in principle to buy the casino and lease what amounts to approximately 40 acres of adjacent properties.
Great Canadian opened the casino in 2007.
Chuck Keeling, executive vice-president of external relations and business development for Great Canadian, said in an email that the company was “excited to reach the first step” with the nation to potentially buy the casino business.
“It is business as usual in the interim for us and our team at Hastings, and there is much work to do before any definitive agreement may be reached,” Keeling said. “We are looking forward to working with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation on next steps, with the goal of completing a definitive agreement with them.”
The City of Vancouver owns the land at Hastings Park, which is held as a provincial trust. As such, the City of Vancouver cannot sell the property, but can license its use, according to information provided to BIV via email from the City of Vancouver’s communications department.
“Any assignment or amendment of the current operating agreement for Hastings Racecourse and Casino would require the City’s consent,” the email said.
“The City is not a party to the business transaction between Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, but it would be involved in reviewing and approving the assignment and any changes to the operating agreement that affect the use of the site.”
$996,000
Municipalities that host casinos receive 10 per cent of net gaming revenue from casinos within their jurisdiction. In Vancouver’s case, it received $996,000 from Hastings in the 2022-23 fiscal year and $692,000 in 2021-22.
In addition to that share of revenue, the City of Vancouver also receives funds from Hastings to offset “the negative impacts of gambling in the surrounding areas,” according to a staff report that went before council in May 2024.
Annual contributions from Hastings have averaged approximately $130,000 over the past five years. Hastings also pays the City of Vancouver operating fees totalling $1.7 million per annum, which are currently allocated to the Hastings Park Reserve to fund the Hastings Park/PNE master plan.
613 Tsleil-Waututh Nation members
Thomas expected those agreements to continue, if a deal is finalized with Great Canadian and signed off by the City of Vancouver. The casino has more than 400 slots machines but is allowed to have 600.
The casino has no gaming tables, but Thomas said the 613-member nation may look to add some to increase revenue.
“We don’t get funding for elders’ programs or youth programs,” the chief said. “We apply for some grants here and there, but they're not funded by anything. So this would really help offset some of those programs. We're always just thinking of keeping the money coming in for future generations.”
In 2002, the provincial government enacted the Gaming Control Act, which gives local governments the ability to approve or reject gambling facilities in their jurisdiction.
The act allows municipalities to regulate specific aspects of the gambling facility, including the size of the gambling floor, the allowable number of slots and table games, and related issues such as responsible gambling.
MST Development Corporation
Thomas sees the potential deal as another step towards economic self-determination for the nation, whose traditional territory includes Hastings Park and centres around Burrard Inlet.
If a deal is reached, Thomas said it would be the nation’s first foray into operating a casino. The nation had attempted approximately 15 years ago to get approval to build a casino on its reserve on the North Shore “but we got nowhere at that time,” the chief said.
The nation has since pursued property development on its reserve and joined with the Musqueam Indian Band and Squamish Nation to form the MST Development Corporation, which is behind the development on the former RCMP lands at 37th Avenue and Heather Street in Vancouver.
Redevelopment of the Jericho Lands in Vancouver is another MST project.
In Burnaby, the Tsleil-Waututh is involved with the Musqueam in a large land development project on Willingdon Avenue, across from the B.C. Institute of Technology. The nation has its own forestry company and is partner with other nations in a food fish company.
The expansion of gambling in Vancouver has a long history of controversy and opposition, with the city once home to several casinos. At one time, Vancouver considered an application in the mid-1990s from Las Vegas gambling magnate Steve Wynn to build a large casino on the waterfront.
Asked about pushback to casinos, Thomas said: “It's an attraction and it brings people to the city. We're not making anything new. We're just taking it over.”
X/@Howellings
