Gambling Revenues Up

The Liberals seem strangely silent when it comes to gambling. The July mini-budget contained a note mentioning the effect on revenues for the B.C. Lottery Corporation of implementing the WCB smoking regulation. I put in a Freedom of Information Request on that note and have yet to get an answer even though it is well past the 30 day time limit.

The First Quarterly Report dropped the reference to the WCB regulation. That is probably because government has delayed the implementation of any regulation until the next fiscal year. It is also expected to interfere with the regulation and allow ineffective air fans - a lot of good that will do when players blow smoke directly into the face of dealers.

The narrative in the First Quarterly Report (p. 59) spoke about estimated increased revenues from the Liquor Distribution Branch of $9 million for the entire fiscal year. That's an increase of just 1.5% on a base of more than $600 million in revenue from the LDB.

It seems somewhat strange that this $9 million annual estimate was singled out when an apparently greater windfall from gambling was ignored. In just the first three months, revenue from the Liquor Distribution Branch was up $5 million. At the same time, revenue from the British Columbia Lottery Corporation was up $8 million yet in the revised annual estimates no change is made in lottery revenues. For a government that likes to gamble with dramatic tax cuts, it doesn't appear willing to bet on its own gambling revenues.