HALIFAX -- On Thursday, June 24, 2010 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, activist John Stansfield, former CEO of the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand (PGFNZ), will speak to invited guests about the importance of a public health approach to gambling. 

“The whole concept of responsible gambling is an oxymoron,” says Stansfield. “A public health strategy is cheaper, safer, and leaves less blood on the floor.”

Hosted by the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation, Stansfield’s day-long presentation, “Resilient Communities: A Public Health Approach to Addressing Gambling Harm” will draw on his experience as a social entrepreneur and activist who revolutionized the PGFNZ from a self-help group to the world’s largest agency dedicated to eliminating gambling harm. His unorthodox approaches to mitigating gambling harm have included flinging VLTs from a helicopter at 1000 feet to establish a news-making world record and fighting for New Zealand citizens to have local control of gambling environments.

“One of the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation’s strategic priorities is to establish gambling as a public health issue in Nova Scotia,” says Celeste Gotell, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation. “By providing this opportunity to engage in a dialogue about gambling as a public health issue, the NSGF is helping Nova Scotians build the shared language and collaborative capacity necessary to participate in a public-health approach to gambling.”

John Stansfield was CEO of the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand (PGFNZ) from 2003-2008 and was instrumental in engineering the PGFNZ as the lead New Zealand provider of clinical, educational, and public health services in the problem-gambling sector. In 2006, John was awarded an inaugural fellowship in social enterprise and has led community-based initiatives in waste, occupational safety, and environmental issues. 

The Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation is a not-for-profit, arms-length government organization that encourages and supports an independent response to problem gambling in Nova Scotia.