November 12, 2005

Campbell Government Expands Internet Gambling

It started in July with the online purchase of lottery tickets, not long after the government cracked down on charities selling their lotteries online. It appears that the government wanted a monopoly on online sales. The Campbell government, through its agent the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC), has moved into full fledged Internet gambling. As the promotion says, "frequent, fast, fun". One of the reasons almost all slot machines in BC casinos have been replaced with video lottery terminals is that they play faster and hence relieve players of more money. The latest introduction to online gambling by BCLC is a new online keno game every five minutes! Gamblers can sit at home in front of their computer terminal and blow the week's grocery budget. It is hard to imagine a more hypocritical government than what Gordon Campbell has delivered. The sale of BC Rail, chaos in the Ministry of Children and Families and the expansion of gambling are all the opposite of what Campbell promised.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001, government revenue from BC Lotteries was $562 million; for the fiscal year that will end March 31, 2008, that revenue is projected to be $1.021 billion, an increase of 87%. With aggressive marketing and addictive games, they might exceed that forecast. BCLC's budget for "problem gambling" is $4 million, less than one half of one percent of its net income. It won't release its budget for promoting gambling, but anyone who watches TV and sees the lotto ads knows that they spend many millions. Everywhere you look, TV, the sides of buses, bill boards, corner store and gas station displays, you are bombarded with ads to buy lotto tickets and gamble. The government replies to criticism by saying that the budget for problem gambling is not fully used; what if they banned advertising for gambling the same way they control tobacco and liquor advertising, and put just half as much money into promoting problem gambling programs? Don't hold your breath for that to happen, not when the government is so addicted to gambling revenue that government backed gambling is creeping onto your home computer. Can government promoted online VLTs, blackjack, poker and craps be far behind?