Ontario’s Metis want to negotiate a cut of the Liberal government’s gaming revenue just like the province’s First Nations and make the province the second in Canada to use the proceeds from casinos and lotteries to help Metis businesses.

Tony Belcourt, president of the Metis Nation of Ontario, said there’s no reason Ontario can’t follow the example of Saskatchewan and share gambling revenues with the Metis.

It’s time Ontario’s 50,000 Metis enjoyed the same rights as their First Nation counterparts, he added.

“The government can’t justify having (money) set aside for First Nations and not for the Metis people,” Belcourt said in an interview. “We are aboriginal peoples.”

Under a current deal which expires in 2011, some First Nation communities get a cut of the revenue generated by Casino Rama near Orillia, Ont., which works out to an average of $60 million a year.

After several years of negotiation, Ontario recently offered First Nations $2.5 billion from gaming revenues over the next 20 years for community health care, education and infrastructure. The offer was rejected in a vote of Ontario chiefs.

Belcourt wouldn’t say how much of a cut Metis are seeking but said the money could be put into an equity fund to help Metis businesses, much like it is in Saskatchewan.

“We lack access to capital so that’s an important thing,” he said. “We’re just as concerned about our economy and our communities, ensuring there are jobs in our communities for our younger people so that they don’t have to go away for employment.”

The Metis nation are scheduled to start negotiating with the province over hunting and fishing rights following a recent court decision, but Belcourt said those talks must go beyond that mandate.

On top of sharing gaming revenues, Metis want the province’s help to settle some of its outstanding land claims and consult the nation when its traditional lands are exploited, he said.

“Metis people should benefit from resource development the same way that First Nations are benefiting,” Belcourt said. “It’s time to talk.”

Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay said he’s not prepared to discuss sharing gaming revenue with the Metis just yet. The province is focused on getting a revenue-sharing agreement with its First Nations after the last deal collapsed, he added.

“First Nations people have certain rights and entitlements in the country and with Metis, not all these rights and entitlements have been determined,” Ramsay said.

Metis also live off reserves and have access to support services which aren’t available to many First Nation communities, he added.

“Our goal is to help the First Nation communities,” Ramsay said. “They’re the ones that really need the help. They need some extra revenues.”

Former Ontario premier David Peterson, who spent several years negotiating the now-defunct gaming revenue sharing deal with the province’s First Nations, said the process was complicated but it made sense to provide First Nation communities with a steady income.

Given that Ontario’s Metis don’t have a land base or specific communities that would benefit from the shared revenue, Peterson said he’s not sure it makes sense to try negotiating a similar deal.

Saskatchewan may have an agreement with its Metis but Peterson said the two provinces aren’t really comparable. Saskatchewan has a different population base, Peterson said, and their lottery corporation is much smaller than Ontario’s, which brings in $7 billion a year.

Ontario First Nations and the Metis aren’t really comparable either, he added.

“They have issues but they have different issues,” Peterson said of Ontario’s Metis. “I’m not sure I see any logical connection with revenue sharing around this particular resource.”