By Angela Brown

New Gold Horse Casino in Lloydminster officially opens

Dec 21, 2018 | 11:00 AM

There was a big celebration at the Gold Horse Casino in Lloydminster Thursday when the new entertainment venue opened its doors for the first time in a special ceremony.

The development came about through a partnership with Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) and the Border Tribal Council, Little Pine Cree Nation and The City of Lloydminster.

Little Pine Cree Nation Chief Wayne Semaganis said the new casino will also provide valuable employment to people in the communities in the region in addition to being a new attraction to the area.

“I was here three days ago and I met 15 new families from my community that did not work for SIGA before,” he said of many people who have already found employment at the casino. “For me that’s a success.”

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Semaganis was tearful when he gave his introduction speech at the opening ceremony.

He spoke about how First Nation and non First Nation people can work together.

“We have big projects and we’d like to announce those projects to both North Battleford and Lloydminster… For our communities there is a lot to look forward to. Today is one step of many that we need to make,” he said. 

“The wealth I want to see is for families that really need that opportunity,” Semaganis added.

More than 49,000 square feet in size, the Gold Horse is SIGA’s seventh casino and contains over 250 slot machines, 18 electronic table games, five live table games and a state-of-the-art event centre that will feature live entertainment. There is also a venue for banquets and meetings, as well as a bar and grill, and deli.

The casino involved many parties to come to fruition. The land owner Little Pine First Nation was responsible for developing the site. The facility developer Border Tribal Council will be leasing the casino property to SIGA, a non profit organization owned by Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN). SIGA will be responsible for operating the casino. The Border Tribal Council also incorporated the Community Development Corporation for the project. 

Over a year in the works, the project will share in the organization’s profit distribution model, with 50 per cent of profits benefiting First Nation communities in the province, 25 per cent to local initiatives, and the remaining 25 per cent to be shared with the provincial government’s General Revenue Fund.

SIGA president and CEO Zane Hansen said to reporters following the opening the most rewarding part of the project for him has been simply “seeing the facility come together.”

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron was also thrilled to have the new facility now complete. He commented on the success of all of SIGA’s projects in supporting communities.

“One billion dollars has been pumped into the economy from SIGA revenues. We hit that milestone last October,” he said. “To the citizens of Lloydminster and all the shareholders, (to the) non First Nation folks, the First Nation folks this casino is going to pump millions and millions of dollars into the economy of Lloydminster, along with creating employment. These are all things that the vision of the FSIN leaders wanted back in the early 1990s.”

Located at 3910-41 Street, The Gold Horse Casino officially opened to the public Friday. 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW