New proposed Canadian casino could generate us$ 76.4 million in its first year

Its proposed site is a 50-acre vacant plot of land on the north side of the Autoroute 30, a major east-west thoroughfare expected to see almost 28,000 vehicles travel it by 2015, the report notes. And the Mohawk casino would offer complimentary alcoholic beverages to gamblers, the report notes.

Casino de Montréal is located on Île Notre-Dame, an out-of-the-way island accessible by bridge from Montreal. And - like the other three state-sanctioned casinos operated by Loto-Québec - it prohibits the consumption of alcohol except in its bars and restaurants. A Loto-Québec spokesperson declined to comment on the report.

Any Kahnawake casino "is illegal," Marie-Claude Rivest said. But poker rooms and bingo operations have been active for years in Kahnawake without visible interference from authorities.

Kahnawake, which has its own gaming commission, also is the site of a business that pioneered the hosting of online gambling and garnered industry attention worldwide.

The Mohawk council recently hired Total Innovation Group of Colorado to conduct formal feasibility and impact studies on the casino proposal.

Although a land-based casino has been twice voted down in community referendums, the current proposal distinguishes itself as it opens with the proviso that every community member would share in casino profits through dividends.

A synopses of the market assessment report is posted on the council's website. It considers demographics in the region, tourism and "gaming market competitors," including Casino de Montréal and the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino.

The report concludes a Kahnawake casino would have a potential "gamer population" of nearly 4 million people within a two-hour drive of the proposed site. The proposed casino, if approved, would be operational in 2015 as well as "professionally managed and marketed."

By 2019 - its fifth year - the casino would see net revenues of almost us$ 171 million and gross earnings of almost us$ 90 million, the report said.

Equipment and financing costs were not included in the assessment, nor were any taxes. A "social responsibility fee" of two per cent of gaming revenues would be used to address problem gambling.