Mark Anielski, chief executive of Anielski Management Inc. of Edmonton, made the comment after viewing government documents criticizing his 325-page draft study, which has never been released to the public.

"Right from the get-go I sensed there was never any appetite from the steering committee to do this kind of study," said Anielski, referring to the committee of bureaucrats that oversaw his work.

He said the province was wary of producing research that could be used to back lawsuits like an attempt that is being made to certify a class-action in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"If you somehow imply here were six suicides due to problem gambling there may be a . . . liability challenge here," said Anielski.

"I can understand why people would be very nervous about this report coming out."

The critique of Anielski’s work was part of hundreds of pages of emails and memos about the study released under the Freedom of Information Act. The study was commissioned by the former Conservative government in 2007.

After numerous delays in the work, Anielski’s contract was terminated in December by the NDP government.

Karen Stone, a spokeswoman for the Department of Labour and Workforce Development, said the government has no further comment on the report.

In the documents, the committee’s chairman argues in a memo dated Sept. 19, 2009, that a draft of Anielski’s study had serious "data accuracy and consistency problems," was months late, and lacked clear recommendations.

"The methodology is seldom justified and is arguably not "analytical, factual and objective,’ " says the memo, which recommends Anielski’s termination.

The memo also says "progress has been slow and spotty; virtually every promised deadline has been missed."

The study is also criticized for attempting to focus on gambling addicts.

Anielski says it was the first time he had seen the critique of his work since his $212,000 contract was ended with about $68,000 unpaid.

He said his draft report should be provided to the public so that people can judge its quality for themselves, while bearing in mind he was open to revisions.

He said he informed the committee early in the process that his sample size in a survey of problem gamblers was small because a limited budget forced him to rely on existing studies commissioned by the government.

"We would be all for sampling 500 problem gamblers in a future study, and we said that. That’s what I don’t understand. How can you support the previous research and criticize us for not having an appropriate sample size?"

The disputes were more over his desire to focus on problem gamblers, he argues.

"We had quibbles over methodology, but in terms of veracity of the data, it was the best we could get."

Terry Fulmer, a spokesman for the anti-VLT group GameOverVLTs, said the memos and emails that are critical of Anielski show the study must be released and he tends to accept the consultant’s argument that civil servants played a major role in the study’s demise.

"This has been flawed from the government’s side. I blame the bureaucrats. . . . They underfunded it, they put a tight time frame on it, they broadened it to seven forms of gambling and made it impossible for anybody to deliver on," he said.

"They (the province) didn’t want a focus . . . bureaucracies are fantastic at screwing up deadlines on people."

The project was started in April 2005 when the Tories promised a socio-economic study of gambling as part of the province’s gaming strategy.

The province hired Anielski in May 2007. The study was expected by the following spring but was delayed. Anielski sent a draft report early in 2008.

The final draft was submitted on June 22, 2009.