Gambling In Canada:
30 Years Plus and So What?
Dr. Colin S. Campbell
Dept. of Criminology
Douglas College
New Westminster, B.C.
With thanks to the research assistance of Ms. Christianne Paras
Engaging the Big Questions in Gambling Studies
April 8-9, 2011 AGRI Conference
Banff, Alberta
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Major Trends & Issues in Canadian
Gambling over the past 30 years.
• given the breadth and scope of these
issues, my comments and observations
can only be thematic and descriptive.
• Intent to stimulate thought and debate
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BENCHMARKS
• Symposia held in 1988 and 1993 by
SFU.
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1988 National Symposium on Lotteries
& Gambling
• 1st Canadian endeavor to bring together a
range of:
– Scholars
– Government officials (including law
enforcement)
– Industry representatives
– Special interest groups
Purpose: “to discuss the multi-faceted
aspects of gambling.”
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Key Participants:
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•
•
•
•
•
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•
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Margaret Beare,
David Dixon,
John Dombrink,
William Eadington,
Henry Lesieur,
Jan McMillen,
David Miers,
Jerome Skolnick,
William Thompson,
And a couple of teenagers – Indeed, one or two of
you may have heard of them:
• Rachel Volberg & Garry J. Smith.
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1988 Hot Topics:
• Eadington, McMillen, Lesieur, Smith
• Culled from their contributions to the
conference proceedings that were
published as:
“Gambling in Canada: Golden Goose or
Trojan Horse?” (1989).
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1880/193
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Quick & Dirty Overview:
Eadington (1989):
1. Strong preference for constraints on
commercial casinos in Canada.
2. Canadian aversion to private sector
ownership & operation of casinos contrary to most countries
3. Government-run casinos – regulatory
oversight is prone to politicization.
4. Noted Canadian casino clientele were
local regulars – not tourists – thus limited
economic development potential
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Lesieur (1989):
- Little study of & little known about:
1. Impact of P.G. on the workplace.
2. Indebtedness of P.G.s
3. Gambling & Youth
4. Impact of PG on families & children
5. Co-occurring disorders & multiple
addictions
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6. P.G. & Crime
7. SOGS (1987)
8. PG Treatment Needs – only treatment
available in Canada – GA & GamAnon.
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Smith (1989):
1. Nexus of amateur sport/non-profit
organizations in Alberta and Gambling.
2. Liberalization of laws & attitudes,
facilitated by the “good causes” that
are funded with gambling dollars.
3. Raised moral/ethical questions about
the exploitative nature and regressivity
of the charity ventures
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McMillen (1989):
1) Noted the 1985 payment for the
amendment to the Code – to “vacate”
gambling.
2) Noted the elimination of an active
RCMP role in policing gambling.
3) Speculation about the increased power
of provinces within Canadian federalism.
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4) Prediction of shift away from welfareoriented (charity) gambling; increase of
gambling for profit.
5) Prediction of increased competition for
gambling revenue; gloomy outcome for
charities predicted.
6) Anticipated: increased concentration of
ownership; decrease of home town
operations; increase of transnational
ownership.
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7) Powerful operators and suppliers of
technology will become politically influential.
8) Noted that no convincing evidence that
expansion of casino gambling had made much
of an impact on Australian tourism.
9) Commended Canada’s grass roots input to the
policy process; untenable that gambling policy
become the preserve of political or
administrative elite.
10) Need for policy to be guided by principles;
not by economic motives.
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1993 2nd National Symposium
• Purpose: To examine gambling
developments in the 5 years since the
1st Symposium in 1988.
• Proceedings published as:
Gambling in Canada: The Bottom Line
(1994)
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1880/259
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Key Participants:
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William Eadington
Sue Fisher
Elizabeth (Betty) George
Henry Lesieur
Garry J. Smith
William Thompson
Rachel Volberg
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1993 Symposium
•
Between 1988 & 1993, significant
events occurred:
1. Introduction of VLTs – in Eastern
Canada – non-age restricted premises.
2. Outing of PG – widely reported
coverage of man attacking EGMs with a
sledge hammer.
3. High stakes casino gaming appears
4. Series of prevalence studies initiated
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Hot Topics of 1993
Key Speakers:
Smith, Volberg, Lesieur
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Smith (1994):
1. Ethics of government exploiting
citizens, particularly the disadvantaged
2. Raised addictiveness of EGMs
3. Called for principles to guide policy.
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Smith (1994):
• Raised the question: Has expansion of
gambling made Canada a better place to
live?
• Major Benefit: - the effectiveness of
Canadian regulatory systems:
• “There have been very few gambling
related scandals, and when improprieties
have surfaced, they have usually been
dealt with promptly and thoroughly.” (p21)
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Volberg (1994):
• Noted the “pre-paradigmatic stage of
research on gambling-related problems”
and the disagreement & debate about
them.
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Volberg (1994)
• Use of SOGS & Review of methodology
of prevalence studies. Limitations &
revisions to SOGS noted.
• Pointed out that between 1980-1993
some 22 surveys of PG had been
conducted including: AB, BC, MB, NB,
NS & PQ.
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Lesieur (1994):
• Noted dramatic change in Canada since
1988 with respect to research.
• Increase of prevalence studies
• Increased prevention programs including
Gambling Help Hotlines
• Training for counsellors
• Greater availability of treatment services
• One half Canadian provinces had provided
assistance to PGs and their families.
• Need for the other half to follow.
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4 Broad Domains can be Identified:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Political-Legal-Regulatory Issues
Technological Issues
Social-Economic Issues
Academic Issues
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I. P0LITICAL-LEGAL-REGULATORY ISSUES
(6)
1. 1969 Amendment to the Criminal
Code of Canada
- Opened the door to provincial lotteries
and to the expansion of charitable
gaming in the form of bingos and
casino gaming.
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2. 1985 Amendment to the Code
- Consolidated provincial authority over
all gambling.
- Gave legal permission for provinces to
operate electronic gaming formats.
- Start of a paradigm shift in Canadian
gambling.
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3. Provincial Monopolization:
Executive Level Control
- Gambling policy decisions typically kept
out of provincial legislatures.
- Decisions the exclusive domain of a
policy-elite made up of select cabinet
members and senior civil servants.
- Lion’s share of revenues accrue to
provincial governments.
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Absence of Genuine Public
Consultation
4.
- At the federal level, last public consultation
was in the 1950’s
- Changes of the magnitude of the 1985
amendment entailed no public
consultation.
- Provincially, a series of “stake-holder”
consultations are evident – but these are
typically in camera with no verbatim
transcription of proceedings.
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5. Absence of independent policing
and regulatory oversight.
- Cooptation of regulatory personnel
and/or policing authorities.
- Aggressive and pro-active policing and
regulation is thwarted by the revenueimperative of provincial polices.
- Phenomenon of “regulatory capture”
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6. Complete absence of a federal
presence in Canadian gambling.
- Disbanding of RCMP Gambling Specialist
program in late 1980s.
- Unlike, the UK, Australia, & USA, no
national review of gambling and its
impact in Canada.
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II. TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES (2)
• 1. Introduction, Expansion,
Domination of Electronic Gaming
Machines (EGMs):
- The most significant development
- Cannibalization of revenue from traditional
gaming formats: lotteries, bingos.
- Consequences for non-profit, charitable
sector – destabilization of their revenues.
- Government revenue dependence.
- Addictiveness for players.
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• 2. Advent of Internet gambling
• Holds the potential to supersede the
impact of land-based EGMs – the
omnipresence of commercial gambling
combined with privacy, anonymity,
isolation.
• Still in its infancy
• Near impossibility of prohibition
• Alarming rates of PG
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Internet Gambling:
- Uncertain & unchallenged legal status of
the Kahnawake Mohawk Nation – in the
top 3 cites for the volume of Internet
gambling transactions in the world.
- Holds the potential for significant
political, legal, economic conflict.
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Internet Gambling:
• Aggressive moves by BCLC – to capture
and build Internet gambling customers.
• Unilateral by-pass of municipal
consultation.
• $9,999.00 weekly limit possible.
• Predatory marketing.
• Intended to circumvent money laundering
requirements.
• Ethics of responsible gaming called into
question.
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Internet Gambling:
• Canadian public has not totally come to
terms with the wide-open availability of
land-based gambling.
• Ordinary Canadians – to this point unaware of the pervasiveness of
Internet gambling.
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III SOCIAL – ECONOMIC ISSUES (3)
1) Lack of a definitive methodology for
assessing the overall impact of gambling
on our community.
• Williams, Rehm, Stevens (2011) point
to 492 studies over a 36 year span.
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• Observation offered by Eadington many
years ago (circa 1980s) – now clichéd:
• “Easy to quantify the benefits of
gambling”
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• Political Significance to this: Progambling forces have had a publicrelations advantage because of this.
• Economic benefits dazzle decisionmakers.
• Easy for gambling proponents to sidestep the negative consequences.
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2) Problem Gambling
- Emerges in the 1988-1993 time period
as the gambling industry’s Achilles heel.
- Fuels and is fuelled by a burgeoning
“help industry” of:
- researchers, treatment specialists,
psychologists, psychiatrists, clinicians,
public health experts, counsellors, and
government bureaucrats.
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3) Responsible Gambling – as an industry
and government response to PG.
- This too has spurred the growth of a cadre
of professionals and research initiatives.
- pro-gambling forces and provincial
governments combine.
- “Gambling neutral”
- seek to placate growing public fears while
introducing new gambling products,
services, and institutions.
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IV. ACADEMIC ISSUES (3)
1. Establishment of major research
institutes in Canada:
a) Alberta Gaming Research Institute
(1999)
b) Ontario Problem Gambling Research
Centre (2000)
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• c) Research centres:
i) International Centre for Youth Gambling
Problems and High-Risk Behaviors, McGill
University (2001)
ii) Centre québécois d'excellence pour la
prévention et le traitement du jeu, Laval
Université (1997)
iii) Responsible Gaming Council (2001)
iv) Gambling Awareness Nova Scotia (1998)
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3. Series of Annual Conferences
a) AGRI – since 2002
b) RGC Discovery – since 2000
c) Gaming Awareness NS – since 2004
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• 3. Establishment of 2 principal academic
journals
1) Journal of Gambling Studies (est.
1985)
2) International Gambling Studies (est.
2001)
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AND SO WHAT?
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AND SO WHAT?
• 1. Despite not inconsequential levels of
funding for gambling research in
Canada – what do we have to show for
it?
• 2. What effect has this research had on
public policy?
• 3. At the end of the day and after 30+
years, what do we know definitively?
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MY ANSWER:
NOT MUCH!
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My Answer: Not much!
1. SEIG – studies inconclusive or
contradictory, both negative & positive
outcomes overstated.
• Destination casinos – hold potential to
bring in outside revenue and to create
broad economic benefit.
• How many Canadian casinos, despite the
political blustering, are truly destination
casinos?
• Very few, I suspect.
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• Increasing concentration of Canadian
gaming suppliers.
• Increasing foreign ownership.
• No debate or research regarding how
much revenue is drained from provincial
economies.
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2. P.G. – (and derivatives: awareness,
prevention, treatment) principal subject
of research & academic attention.
• Other than damning indictments of the
addictiveness of EGMs – not much.
• In the face of compelling empirical
evidence, lottery corporations,
politicians, gaming operators downplay
the negative impacts.
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3. Regulation & Policing –
- Persistence of conflict of interest with
government simultaneous wearing the
hats of regulator & beneficiary.
- Gambling & crime nexus – not much
known.
- Credible media accounts of money
laundering, frauds, organized crime –
yet governments in denial.
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4. Responsible Gambling –
• Allied to the individualist-orientation
typified by psychological understanding of
P.G.
• Just who is responsible?
• Focus on the individual.
• Not on state policies.
• RG – emerges with and appeals to the rise
of neo-liberalism, the minimalist state,
consumer society.
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• Focus on the individual as the primary
site where responsibility lies, RG sidesteps such issues as access and
availability.
• Excessive gambling transposed into an
individual problem and depoliticized.
• Psychologists - and a host of other very
busy people - have led this charge.
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Thank you, very much.
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