From the Ottawa Citizen on Tuesday, February 9, 2010:
Gambling is highly addictive ... for provincial governments. Most provinces are now so dependent on the revenue they reap from state-run lotteries and gaming operations that it is difficult to imagine them ever giving it up.
Like all addictions this is a sad one, because the money raised from gambling comes too often at a steep cost to the families and individuals who have lost that money -- individuals and families who typically didn't have the money to lose. It's a cliché to describe gambling as a tax on the poor but it's not entirely inaccurate.
It is disappointing, then, to hear that Quebec, British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces have decided to double down and increase government's role in this dubious enterprise, by expanding to online gambling.
Quebec officials say they simply want to control the large online gambling market which they say offers few protections and often funds illegal activities. It is true online gambling is available for anyone who wants to use it. But pretending the government's entry into this lucrative field is anything more than a money grab is cynical indeed.
In becoming purveyors of online gambling, the provinces stand to haul in millions of dollars for their coffers. And yes, the money will help fund services -- education, health care -- that everyone uses. But mental health experts, those who have seen compulsive gamblers self-destruct, are right to ask if this provincial money is tainted money.
Loto-Québec president Alain Cousineau promises to weed out problem gamblers and verify the ages of would-be players, but online gambling is nearly impossible to regulate completely. At least casinos have the advantage of offering human contact, in the form of on-site staff who can identify problem gamblers.
The most addicted, desperate gamblers are the ones who will park themselves in front of online sites. In a free society it is their right to do so, but one needs to question the ethics of allowing governments to profit from their misery.
