Ottowa's Government Trying to Ban Online Gaming

Canada's federal government in Ottawa has considered the 400 online poker and gambling sites in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (Canada's First Nations) to be illegal for a long time. 

They are now looking to enforce their views by blocking financial transactions to the sites in a move that is very firmiliar to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that was passed in 2006 by the United States.

Genevieve Breton, Mr. Nicholson's director of communication was quoted as saying this in an article that was in yesterday's Canada National Post,
"Following recent concerns surrounding Internet gambling in Canada, the Minister of Justice [Rob Nicholson] has asked his officials to examine whether the enforcement of the Criminal Code provisions could be assisted with other measures".

The other measures will forbid bank and credit card companies from handling transactions with internet operators that are considered to be illegal in Kahnawake, namely the 400 online gambling licenses which represent about 60 percent of the world's online gaming business.

They have also brought up section 35 of the Constitution that was inserted to protect native culture.  The Mohawk's say that gaming has been central to their culture as a means of settling disputes through competition and not violence.