Caledonia and Gambling
Update: More links between the Caledonia protests and unsavoury criminal interests.
The OPP are looking for several people with regards to violence at the Caledonia stand-off involving the Six Nations Reserve.
One of those people is Ken Hill:
Ken Hill, 47, of Ohsweken, faces two counts of assault
Ken Hill is not just some two-bit hooligan. He's a two-bit hooligan with a business plan:
Ken Hill, a Mohawk from Six Nations, and Jerry Montour, a Mohawk from Wahta, are partners with others at Grand River Enterprises, which is located on the Six Nations Indian Reserve. GRE, which is a cigarette manufacturing plant, is the largest private business on the Six Nations Reserve, employing approximately 175 people. They have recently expanded operations to a plant located in Germany and are also looking at establishing a plant in South Africa. Ken and Jerry will talk about this exciting international project.
Besides smoking, Ken Hill is interested in gambling as well:
Preliminary Report On Six Nations Gaming Commission And Internet Gaming Activities On The ReserveOn May 13, 2003 Steve Williams, then Chair of the Gaming Commission, met with Harvey Filger, Director of Economic Development, to discuss a proposal he had worked on in his capacity as Chair of the Gaming Commission. He advised that a third party on the reserve wished to use a private facility consisting of 12 computers for internet gaming.
During the month of June Chief Roberta Jamieson, and Councillor Sid Henhawk attended a meeting at Grand River Enterprises (GRE). Gerry Montour, Ken Hill and Steve Williams attended the meeting. During this meeting, Mr. Montour and Mr. Hill stated their interest in operating a call center and becoming involved in on reserve internet gaming. Chief Roberta Jamieson requested a legal opinion and business plan on the proposed initiatives and Mr. Montour agreed to forward these documents to the Six Nations Economic Development Committee.
Now this planning for an internet gaming operation was hung up on legal matters. The Council was not satisfied that the reserve could host internet gambling without running afoul of Canadian law despite their status as a reserve. But that did not stop someone from moving forward with the idea.
First, there is the Six Nations Network, a server hosting company dedicated to bringing "your offshore hosting back to the main land." Most internet gaming interests maintain their servers on small islands in the Caribbean to avoid law enforcement entanglements in the US and Canada. Apparently, someone at Six Nations thinks being on a reserve amounts to the same thing, but affords the client the comfort of knowing the servers are close by (and not in the path of hurricanes). Interestingly, there is a link from the site to the Six Nations Gaming Commission, though the link dies.
Somebody then started up AbsolutePoker.com, and claimed it was being managed by that same Six Nations Gaming Commission:
A commercial internet gaming site www.absolutepoker.com currently hosting its website on the Six Nations reserve with a company or partnership called Six Nations Network (SixNet), www.sixnet.ca, which indicates that it has received a license to operate on Six Nations by the Six Nations Gaming Commission.
This will advise all Six Nations members and the general public that this commercial activity has not been approved by the Six Nations Council. [October 2003]
The poker site is still active, and it still claims to be regulated in the Six Nations Internet Gambling Regulatory Body.
There is another gambling authority operating on the reserve called the Haldimand Mohocks and Allies Gaming Commission. They are also connected to the Six Nations Network. Two commissions? Not unless they share an office. Both are located at 2176-B Chiefswood Road on the reserve (see here and here).
Guess who else has an office exactly at 2176 Chiefswood Road. If you bet all your chips on the name Ken Hill, you would have won! In fact, the cigarette company Ken Hill owns, Grand River Enterprises, has their office there.
OK, I think it's fair to say that despite the protestations of the Six Nations Council, Ken Hill is deeply involved in internet gambling using the Six Nations Network as his "offshore" server farm.
Is Ken Hill still trying to make it into the lucrative world of reserve gaming, the bricks-and-mortar kind? Is he looking at the Douglas Creek Estates land as a potential site for a casino?
For a businessman with significant responsibilities, it seems strange for Ken Hill to be engaging in riots and assaulting people -- unless there was something in it for him.
Something big.
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Comments
Curioser and curioser.
Well, he would stand to make a nice profit taking over a half finished housing estate. However, this has got to be small potatoes compared to internet gambling $$$. Whatever, something smells. Thanks for bringing this to light, and look forward to reading about it in tomorrows Vancouver Sun.
Posted by: morison at June 12, 2006 12:36 AM
The story circulating around Caledonia is that Hill lost out on the land deal on Douglas Estates to Henco and vowed that Henco wasn't going to get it. As the story goes, it was Hill who brought agitators from the US to manage the occupation of the site. The courts have previously overturned Six Nations claim to the land. YMMV.
Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2006 06:48 AM
Excellent work Steve. Glad to see this information surface.
Dalton doesn't know what to do. He's painted himself into a corner.
The longer he waits, the bigger will the incident be. He can't escape having to act. Delaying the inevitable will only make it that much worse for Dalton.
Posted by: Shaken at June 12, 2006 09:31 AM
Hmmmmm...into gambling, contriband tobacco ( what's next guns?) and providing muscle for intimidation ....sounds like a six nations mafia don ;-)
BTW Do you recall where and who were lych pins in the recent RCMP bust of the gun smuggling which was supplying the gang bangers in GTA?
In all this I have to ask where the reserve police are and what law are they enforcing?
Posted by: wlyonmackenzie at June 12, 2006 09:47 AM
"Most internet gaming interests maintain their servers on small islands in the Caribbean to avoid law enforcement entanglements in the US and Canada"
I'm not sure this is true; many if not most of the big ones already have their servers physically located in Canada on certain native reservations *cough*KAHNAWAKE*cough* due to bandwidth limitations in the banana republics the
companies are headquartered in.
Posted by: e at June 12, 2006 10:13 AM
Certainly there has been a shift happening. I thought the majority of servers were still in the Caribbean, but perhaps the balance has already tipped. Still, if security is really a concern, better to keep the server on a sovereign island physically separate from the mainland than on a chunk of inland property with questionable legal status. That is, if the servers are being used by people off the reserve, does it lose whatever protection a casino on the reserve enjoys?
Posted by: Steve Janke at June 12, 2006 10:17 AM
Steve: Are we the only country in the world that requires that any Prime Minister must speak French and English - Given the fact that 80% of Canadians speak only English are we not in danger of passing by some good prospects (better than we have). Can you explain what speaking two languages has to do with running one of the largest organization responsible for distributing hundreds of billions of taxpayers money? If the past is any indication of the competence of people we elect to Parliament we should be looking for another system. There are times when I feel that the average intelligence level of some Cabinet Ministers in the past government was about 80. We had a Prime Minister who stole at least 250 million dollars who will never be brought before the public to answer to these charges in a proper manner.
Posted by: Clive at June 12, 2006 11:06 AM
There is no requirement, but it is defacto rule. As such things go, it doesn't bother me too much. If we had a rule that the PM had to be from a certain tribe or be of a certain gender, then we'd be in trouble, because those are things that one can't change. However, anyone can learn another language with some effort, and French and English are closely related as languages go. Stephen Harper had to learn French, and everyone says he's done a masterful job. Can't shake the Alberta accent, but Quebeckers seem to think it's charming.
Posted by: Steve Janke at June 12, 2006 11:12 AM
Indians ... when I think of them I think of alcohol, drugs, prostitution, gambling, dead eagles, welfare, petty crime, fetal alcohol syndrome, obesity, illiteracy, violence, laziness, huge waste of taxpayers money, graffiti & broken down vehicles, a few chiefs living large on the booty they control while their tribe suffers.
Why is that?
Posted by: Duke at June 12, 2006 11:42 AM
Prehaps because that's all we ever hear about them in the media?
The majority of natives aren't trouble-makers. They're just stuck in a lousy situaition that (most) of them would do anything to get out of.
While I'm not absolving irresponsible individuals of their behavoir, part of the blame for all of the problems you've listed lies with a reserve system that treats natives like incompetant children.
We've set up a system that encourages dependance and corruption, so we can't be suprised with the results. When we show people that there are no consequences for braking the law, we are encouraging them to continue doing so.
The best thing for natives would be to make it easy for them to get off the reserves.
Posted by: GM at June 12, 2006 12:53 PM
this issue has a lot of flesh still on the bone steve. no one, but thy self, has the special talents to reveal what is totally obscured. go get em. i'll be interested to find out just what depth and breadth there is to plum.
Posted by: Ottawa Core at June 12, 2006 01:16 PM
This isn't about aboriginals. This is allegedly about organized crime that is taking advantage of a unique set of conditions.
I would be surprised if this data is not known at all levels of government.
I think it's quite plain: Dalton does not know what to do - he is searching for a nice way out, but no nice way out exists. He needs to lead.
Posted by: Shaken at June 12, 2006 01:35 PM
Steve, your investigative work makes me love the internet more every day!
So, the OPP won't "cross the border" onto the reserve to arrest the 7 suspects that the have warrants for. Who and what are the reserve police? Do you have any info on who they report to? The same people running these business operations and who control every aspect of the Six Nations' peoples' lives?
Posted by: Angela at June 12, 2006 01:47 PM
Quoted by GM "The best thing for natives would be to make it easy for them to get off the reserves."
That is one of the most ill-informed comments I have heard in a long time. An extremely close member of our family is completing her Doctorate and will soon be a Professor at one of our finer Universities. The opportunities afforded to the Aboriginal community far outweighs what is offered to the poor putzes (regular white folk) in our society.
As she puts it ... they have a choice of getting a somewhat free education, study hard and become a member of the community .. or .. continue to live off the teat of the Federal Government where no effort is needed.
Yes... KAHNAWAKE ... already hosts a major gambling site called sportsinteraction.
Mike in Manotick (MiM)
Posted by: at June 12, 2006 03:26 PM
The biggest victims of this indulgence of criminals by McGuinty et al are other natives. It basically sends a message to the natives on the bottom rungs of the tribal/reserve ladder that the mafiosi are firmly in control and are aided and abetted by politicians whose primary focus is political correctness. So don't rock the boat. Do what the thugs tell you to and don't fight back. You'll get no help from the authorities.
Posted by: DrD at June 12, 2006 03:45 PM
Many are not "stuck" in their situation, especially here in BC & Alberta. Not when you consider the unemployment figures & job vacancies.
Most employers don't give a damn about skin color, so cries of racism being the cause of higher unemployment rates in native communities in comparison to the unemployment rates in the general population of the associated local areas are simply nonsense.
Posted by: Kevin at June 12, 2006 04:39 PM
DrD - well said.
Posted by: Shaken at June 12, 2006 04:50 PM
You know I read the Vancouver Sun today, without a mention of this. Man o man I was really looking forward to reading about it in the MSM. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Posted by: morison at June 12, 2006 06:40 PM
Mike,
Despite your description of my comments as "ill-informed", you actually have made a point very close to mine.
Yes, natives are offered significant benefits on reserves. I understand that. But, as you have so rightly pointed out, those benefits are as likely to breed dependancy as they are to encourage initiative.
My whole point (and I don't think this is far from your's) is that it would be better to get the natives off the reserves, where they will be subject to neither the special benefits nor the horrid living conditions so common there. In short, help wean them off the "teat", in your words.
In the long term, i believe that this would be what is best for them.
Posted by: GM at June 12, 2006 07:27 PM
Steve, This is just great work. If it wasn't for people like you that will go to no end to find the truth, this country would be in bigger trouble. This is just the tip of the iceberg. This behavior is going on right across Canada. Indian Moffia. How can the governments expect anyone to follow the rules of the country while a bunch of thugs that use force and intimidation (as well as the race card) to bully to get their own way. I think we should quite funding the reserve system. But, to late, the government have made these different tribes very, very, very rich. There is alot of money within the reserve system. They have unlimited funds for lawyers.
Posted by: MaryM at June 12, 2006 08:30 PM
Be careful here. Hill is a common Six Nations name, and there are several Ken Hills. Given the political divide between supporters of the elected council (which Ken Hill was a member of) and the traditional Confederacy (which is in the lead on the occupation), it would be surprising if it were this Ken Hill that was at the occupation site.
Posted by: at June 12, 2006 09:04 PM
http://auto_sol.tao.ca/node/view/1927?PHPSESSID=30
more poop steve.
Posted by: Ottawa Core at June 12, 2006 11:20 PM
Here something I remember, while reading this blog. Can't remember their names , but two guys with links to the mob, are presently up on charges in Hamilton for scamming senior citizens in a retirement home frauds. It was in the Hamilton Spectator.
The money trail ended in storefront office in a strip mall, on the Six Nations Reserve, possibly owned by GRE. The Six Nations Police won't provide info on this storefront, despite requests from the police and courts.
Posted by: skyclad at June 13, 2006 12:08 PM
Why all the surprise.The Band Council system was forced on Natives,imposed by force.Ordinary natives have been screaming for years about the Band Council system,the coruption,the nepotism.But it serves the intrest of the white govt and business to have those in charge that are motivated by money and self.This is why there are so many problems on the rez.When ordinary Natives have attempted to boycott or ignore the Band Council,the govt and police have always sided with the Band Council.In short,those in power will side with the white government infact anyone who assists then in maintaining power and circumventing the will of the their own people.
Let the Mohawk people decided their form of govt without outside interferance wether by the department of Indian Affairs acting in defence of the 'Indian Act'(another reson there is so much wrong on the rez and within the Band Council system)..You would quikly see the death of the band council system in Indian Country.
At least get your fact right......
Posted by: dirk buchholz at June 13, 2006 04:49 PM
Need a link between Ken Hill, Art Montour and Jerry Montour?
http://www.state.gov/s/l/c11935.htm
Posted by: jake at June 15, 2006 06:40 PM
"Indians ... when I think of them I think of alcohol, drugs, prostitution, gambling, dead eagles, welfare, petty crime, fetal alcohol syndrome, obesity, illiteracy, violence, laziness, huge waste of taxpayers money, graffiti & broken down vehicles, a few chiefs living large on the booty they control while their tribe suffers.
Why is that?
Posted by: Duke at June 12"
White Trash
When I think of Small Pox, Brown Beetles Cockaroaches and Rats I think of White trash.
We are learning our lessons well.
Duke is that not the david duke of the KKK
Little faggot who dresses in a white robe with a dunce cap.
Posted by: at June 17, 2006 07:59 PM
"Be careful here. Hill is a common Six Nations name, and there are several Ken Hills."
Yes, but there is only one Ken Hill who is 47 years of age and that indeed is the Ken Hill outlined above. And yes, Ken Hill is very influential but the reserve will never rat him out because he pays huge kickbacks to the Clan Mothers and the Band Council. Haven't you ever noticed that the Six Nations reserve has more Hummers per capita than almost every other community in Canada? Ken Hill's house at Beaver's Corners usually has vehicles of his parked outside that include two Hummers (one H2 and one H3), an Escalade, three sports cars (I think it's a Stealth, a Camero, and the other one I'm not sure), and a BMW. And that doesn't include the huge storage compound across the street that has the boats and other toys in it.
The problem on reserves isn't the Band Council because if natives wanted hereditary elders they would just nominate them and then acclaim them, but they don't. The problem is you have crime figures in charge who have absolute power over people on the reserve and that there is zero accountability. Just look at what happened on the reserve out by Montreal when a chief tried to enforce the law and had his house burned down.
Oh and Steve, Ken Hill also runs a black market satellite company off the reserve, and that is just scratching the surface to be quite honest.
As for anyone wondering why US Border Patrol is in Caledonia, here's a hint:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/18062006/2/national-seattle-judge-tells-canadians-spread-word-harsh-u-s.html
Whispers in political circles are that the USA is hoping to close this particular loophole especially given the tone in Caledonia and the now high risk of the native "treaty right to unrestricted travel" leading to terrorist manipulation (which won't be hard since both natives and terror networks run large organized crime syndicates that in fact are already helping one another).
ByProxy
Posted by: byproxy at June 19, 2006 09:44 AM
A little birdie told me that Ken Hill has been recruiting and paying protestors to stay on the site of Douglas Creek Estates. I know this for a fact through my connections. Anyone doubt that Argyle Street, a main street through Caledonia, would be a great site for a casino? And the infrastructures are in place already! How convenient.
Posted by: BehindScenes at June 20, 2006 11:01 AM
Please refer to the following link to sign a petition requesting the removal immediately of so called OPP commissioner Gwen Bonniface for her bumbling incompetence and blatant bias for the Natives.
http://www.caledoniawakeupcall.com/petition.html
Ken Hill might be sorry he ever financed this protest. The National attention he and his GRE cronies can't be beneficial to his ultimate goal. Lets face it, he wants a casino on that land. The largest and most prosperous reserve in Canada doesn't have a casino ? What's wrong with these guys ? Gov't run Niagara Falls may have something to say about his intentions.
Posted by: HeyNow at June 20, 2006 04:34 PM
 
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