New Brunswick: Madawaska First Nation scores revenue-sharing win in court

New Brunswick: Madawaska First Nation scores revenue-sharing win in court

Article brief provided by CBC News
  • Jacques Poitras, CBC News
January 16, 2023 8:38 PM
  • Jacques Poitras, CBC News

New Brunswick’s top court has handed another revenue-sharing victory to the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation, just weeks before its retail tax agreement with the province is due to expire.

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The province is obligated to hand over to the band government 95 per cent of the profits from video gambling machines at the Grey Rock Casino on the reserve, the ruling says.

The New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation argued it had no legal obligation to share the revenue, insisting it was “essentially a policy decision, involving various social and economic factors,” that could be made at its discretion.

But the New Brunswick Court of Appeal disagreed in a Jan. 12 ruling written by Justice Raymond French and signed by the two other justices who heard the case.