Neoliberalism as Colonial Embrace: Evaluating Alberta's Regulation of First Nations Gaming, 1993-2010

Buoyed by the success of two large-scale bingos in 1993 Albertas First Nations initiated plans to construct reserve casinos to mitigate economic hardships. That year Alberta commenced with neoliberal reforms to slash the provincial budget. This paper explores how Alberta's acquisition of regulatory authority over First Nation's gaming led to the creation of a bureaucracy responsible for oversight of reserve gaming, the costs of which were borne by reserve casino revenues thereby resulting in no additional taxation of non-Native Albertans.