Government addiction to gambling no gamble

Like many other British Columbians, I am sick about the BC Liberal Government’s decision to expand on-line gambling by setting up an on-line casino. I was glad to see the introduction plagued with problems and pulled off the web. I thought it might mean the government would re-think its decision.

Alas, that is not the plan. Rich Coleman, the Minister responsible say they will work out the bugs and get the system operational.

I find the whole government addiction to gambling revenue abhorrent. So did the Liberals when they were in opposition – at least they said they would halt the expansion of gambling. But once elected they realized what a cash cow they had and have undertaken an unconscionable expansion of gambling ever since, especially the terribly addictive on-line forms of gambling.

The rationale for opening an on-line casino and expanding on-line gambling is that people are gambling anyway so BC should be the beneficiary of the revenue. Last summer, the BC Lottery Corporation increased the weekly limit from just over $100 to $10,000. The combination shows that the decision is very strategic and it is designed to extract the most it can from the people who gamble.

The whole business of the government being involved in gambling is distasteful but understandable. After all, they hold all the cards – the owner of the casino is always the winner despite the occasional but improbable chance of a player winning.

Government gambling corporations shift taxes onto hope and desperation. I can buy that for some people, gambling is fun and they know their limits and stay within them. For those, it is simply voluntary tax on activity.

 For people who have problems or who have an addiction to gambling, it is a tax on desperation or hope. And it leads to devastating personal and family problems. A woman who signed up for the voluntary exclusion program that is supposed to prevent people with gambling problems from being allowed to gamble is suing the BCLC for the $330,000 she lost while on the program.

Coincidentally, we have learned that BCLC has been fined $670,000 for violating the federal Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act. That’s the equally distasteful part of increasing government revenues from gambling. They turn a blind eye to the fact that casinos are used for money laundering by criminals. Criminals, drug dealers and terrorists are the other winners from the expansion of gambling.

Because the BC Liberals have changed their position on gambling from when they were in opposition, I’ve heard political pundits recommend that any party should be careful what they promise in opposition. The BC NDP seems to be following that advice. From what I read, they have not taken a position on the on-line casino except as it relates to the privacy of people’s information and to berate the BC Liberals as not to be trusted because they have expanded gambling when they said they wouldn’t.

The question becomes would a Green government be able to extricate BC from this dependence on gambling? We support “a moratorium on gambling licenses and a gradual phase-out of the most addictive forms of gambling such as slot machines and on-line gambling.”

Everything gets back to taxation. Once the BC Liberals starved the treasury of tax money they had to find a substitute and the BCLC expansion is one of the places they found success.

But the government wouldn’t invest so much in expanding gambling if the people of BC didn’t respond by participating. Why are more and more people gambling? One reason is that BCLC is advertising more and more – another unacceptable government strategy!

But there are bigger societal issues that create a malaise. Amongst things that I think account for the desire to get something for nothing or to try our luck are the breakdown in our sense of community, the desire for more and more stuff, the pressure we are putting on families, the levels of unemployment and underemployment, the shift to less meaningful jobs, too much TV and computer time and not enough healthy physical and social activity. At some point if we are to develop a sustainable economy, we’ll have to find solutions to some of these issues.