Even the fact that Finance Minister Tom Marshall would consider getting into the world of online gambling has NDP Leader Lorraine Michael fuming.
The Atlantic Lottery Corp. (ALC) is pushing for online casino gambling as it projects a drop in revenues from its existing offerings, according to Finance Minister Tom Marshall.
But building revenue from destructive addictions is not appropriate in the NDP leader’s opinion and she is calling on Government to perish the notion.
In a telephone interview with the Aurora last Tuesday, Michael made it clear she was not opposed to all gambling.
“I am not opposed to gambling, I am opposed to government supporting forms of gambling that are proven to be addictive such as VLTs and online gambling,” she stated.
“The addiction is the issue here and this issue has been brought to me many times by individuals concerned about the damages that have been done to families because of gambling addiction, the loss of life through suicides, loss of livelihoods. There is really a problem out there and I believe if the government would hold consultations around the province, there would be a large outcry from people with regards to the addictive forms of gambling.”
The decision will be made by Cabinet this week whether or not to get onboard with ALC on its bid for online gambling, and Premier Danny Williams has made comments in the media saying he doesn’t believe the request from ALC will get support.
Yet, the NDP leader says, not only should it not get support, it shouldn’t have even been considered as it contradicts the steps made a few years ago to scale back 25 per cent of the VLTs in the province.
“It’s one step forward and two steps backward,” said Michael. “Even the minister, in his statement, is giving the rationale for that. He is saying the reason the ALC is looking at this is because of the loss of income from other forms of gambling.”
Online gambling is already causing grief for families affected by addiction and, Michael says, it’s dangerous and destructive for a number of reasons including the easy accessibility.
“It’s there constantly and there nothing to control your use of it,” she said of online gambling. “It’s there 24/7. We have a problem now with young people and underage people becoming addicted to VLTs and online gambling opens up even more options.”
And, if the premier is right and the online gambling doesn’t get the green light from Cabinet, the NDP leader said, the government is still not addressing the impact addictive gambling is having on people in the province and any revenues that come from addictive gambling ought to be reconsidered. There is no talk about putting more money into addictions services. People have called for it, so that’s disturbing also. There just seems to be a total denial of what the impact is and a refusal by government to just say, ‘No, we don’t need to get revenue from this source’, and it’s as simple as that.
“I just think, especially for Newfoundland and Labrador with the revenues we have now, government should break it’s own addiction of getting money from that source.” - NDP Leader Lorraine Michael
I just think, especially for Newfoundland and Labrador with the revenues we have now, government should break it’s own addiction of getting money from that source. We have the ability and I think we should do it.”
SIDEBAR
Finance Minister Tom Marshall said ALC is projecting declining revenues from its current games.
The reasons, he said, include:
• product maturity and natural decline rates;
• no growth in the size of the market;
• decreasing profit margins, due to necessary reinvestments with no corresponding revenue increase — for example, replacing old machines with newer ones.
The province has also pulled the plug on more than 25 per cent of its video-lottery terminals (VLTs) over the past five years.
Overall, Marshall said, Newfoundland and Labrador’s revenues from ALC are projected to decline by a total of $55 million over the next decade, based on the corporation’s current offerings.
“They want to go after the online gambling market, and they feel they can take 35 per cent of it,” the minister noted.
ALC currently estimates that more than $50 million is leaving Atlantic Canada to offshore poker and casino websites.
Giving the green light to ALC’s online gambling plans would translate into additional cash of $23.5 million for Newfoundland and Labrador alone over the next five years, Marshall said, and $10 million a year after that.
He said Newfoundland and Labrador is one of three Atlantic provinces still considering online casino gambling.
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