Maintaining Provincial Monopolies: The Legality of Online Gambling Sites in Canada

Abstract

In this paper the authors examine the legality of online gambling in Canada. We concern ourselves less with the “user” perspective, and more on the “provider” perspective. Especially since it appears that 60% of the world’s online gambling traffic is received by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (a gambling commission created by the Kahnawake First Nation’s people, an indigenous group in Quebec, Canada), despite the fact that the operation of an online gambling site is clearly illegal under Canadian criminal law, unless licensed and authorized by a provincial government.

Keywords: gambling, crime, criminal, legality, aboriginal, native, gaming, online, poker