The debate about casinos can't be calculated only in dollars

The debate about casinos can't be calculated only in dollars
Vancouver Sun

Re: Gamblers expected to drop $125 per visit

As a lawyer practising bankruptcy law and a former registrar in bankruptcy, I question some of the statements made to your editorial board by promoters of the casino expansion.

What is missing from their analysis is an acknowledgment and costing of the social problems and financial losses to other parts of society as a result of casino gambling.

The proponents of the expanded casino are counting on attracting more gamblers and those gamblers losing even more money, an average of $125 per visit. According to your article, gamblers go to the casino two or three times a week. That translates to $13,000 to $19,500 in after-tax dollars per year for the average gambler. That is a lot of money to take from a family budget without social or financial consequences.

Paragon president Scott Menke is quoted as saying that he expects wealthy gamblers representing two per cent of visitors will account for 30 per cent of the casino's revenues. Presumably, these people are expected to lose much more than the average gambler's $13,000 to $19,500 per year.

But how many of the "wealthy gamblers" are really so wealthy that they can comfortably lose large amounts of money with no adverse consequences to their families or the rest of society? How many of them are really problem gamblers spending their retirement savings, or who have borrowed money from loan sharks, have had to borrow money to cover their gambling losses from family and friends, by putting another mortgage on their family home or running up their credit cards? How many of the high-rollers are spending money gambling instead of paying child support or taxes? How many of the "wealthy gamblers" are

really people sent to the casino by organized crime to launder money? David Podmore, the B.C. Pavilion Corp. chairman, states that the 28,000 gamblers who go to the casino each week trumps the number of people who have signed the petition opposing the expansion. I ask him to let us hear from those gamblers who contribute to the casino's revenues by losing large amounts of money at the tables and slot machines. Let them and their family members tell us how their gambling losses have affected them.

Katherine Wellburn

Vancouver