"I was disappointed to read Neal St. Anthony's column encouraging state leaders to add slot machines to Canterbury Park and Running Aces horse tracks. The public is surely not surprised that I, as the leader of one of Minnesota's gaming tribes, oppose the state's getting into the gaming business. But my reasoning is more than the opinion of a protective leader; state gaming is simply not the right answer for Minnesota.

First, we should look at the issue of employment. My tribe, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, owns Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Mille Lacs County and Grand Casino Hinckley in Pine County, which are primarily rural areas about one to two hours outside the Twin Cities. Our casinos are the two largest employers in the region. We employ more than 2,900 people in the gaming industry, and the vast majority of them (92 percent) are non-Indians.

These are not just jobs. These are people who rely on the Mille Lacs Band and its casinos for steady employment and good benefits in communities where every position matters. The unemployment rates in Mille Lacs and Pine counties are 15.6 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively. At a time when the state as a whole faces a troubling unemployment rate of 8.9 percent, imagine how alarmed the people of Mille Lacs and Pine counties are. If casino jobs were put at risk, what would people do?"

Get the Story:
Marge Anderson: An expansion of gaming wouldn't just hurt tribes with casinos. It would hurt entire regional economies. (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 5/5)

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Column: Allow non-Indian gaming in Minnesota (4/28)