The Atlantic Lottery Corporation recently proposed a regulated website that would compete in the online gambling market.

However, Wes Sheridan told The Guardian Friday that he feels ALC can’t provide the protection he is seeking for Island players.

Newfoundland and Nova Scotia governments also recently opted not to pursue regulation.

Sheridan says the province needs to explore ways to make online gambling “more containable’’ but added “right now we don’t have the answers to that...we have to look at what are the possibilities.’’

The problem with online gambling now is some Islanders play on offshore websites with no regulation.

Sheridan was unable to estimate how much Islanders spend in unregulated online gambling though he had earlier pegged the figure that people in Atlantic Canada spend on such gambling at $50 million.

Having a regulated site could mean some of that money going into provincial government coffers for health care and education. But Sheridan said the main concern isn’t the money, but protecting online players from risky, unregulated websites.

“We are all about protecting the players on the Island...looking at how to best protect Islanders who play this game,’’ he said.

UPEI political studies professor Peter McKenna, who has studied the effects of gambling, told The Guardian recently that just because offshore gambling sites exist doesn’t mean the provincial government should get involved in the industry. He was concerned that the province may see an increase in the number of gambling addicts if government got involved with online gambling.

Sheridan added there are no immediate plans to pursue any additional avenues from gambling for generating revenues for the public purse.