After voters say NO! Greed knows no bounds

Lots to lose when Ontario rolls dice
By Bob Ripley, Special to QMI Agency

So much for majority rule.

In its 1997 municipal election, the City of London in Ontario put a non-binding question to voters about having a casino in the Forest City. In a margin of just over two-to-one, voters said no.

Three months later, the Ontario Lottery Corporation hatched a plan to put slot machines in any Ontario racetrack that asked for them. To sweeten the offer, the racing industry would get 10% of the take. Despite the recent referendum, London’s Western Fair rolled out the welcome mat.

Two weeks ago, the Ontario government approved a proposal by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) to “modernize lottery and gaming in Ontario”. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and OLG chairperson Paul Godfrey said the changes would “maximize revenues and create more jobs.” OLG said its gift to the government, which currently sits at $2 billion, could increase to $3.3 billion annually in 2017.

And where will the money come from? OLG wants to reconfigure the number of gaming sites and tailor the types of gaming activities made available at each site. Also it plans to launch multi-lane sales of lottery tickets at major retail outlets, including grocery stores.

So having used the horse racing industry to host slot machines (even in municipalities such as London where citizens voted against them), the government is now going to cut off the horse people on March 31, 2013.

Slots will go elsewhere, putting more than 200 people out of work at racetracks in Windsor, Fort Erie and Sarnia. Sorry, folks, but government and gambling are in the driver’s seat and as Premier McGuinty said this week, “It’s time to maximize our return”.

Now it might be the trace of Methodism that courses through my veins that keeps me away from casinos. Or it might be common sense. But here’s the deal: lotteries are the government’s tax on the poor, sold with the false hope of living the dream. And where there’s gambling there is corruption.

In recent years abuse has been uncovered in provincial lotteries across Canada. Lottery insiders (ticket sellers, variety store owners, kiosk operators) in Ontario pocketed $100 million between 1999 and 2006, according to Andre Marin, Ontario’s ombudsman.

That same year, the government agency spent between $4-6 million to rebrand itself and drop the C at the end of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. In 2007 more than 150 employees at the new OLG earned $100,000 or more.

As recently as 1968, lotteries in Canada were illegal. But the City of Montreal allowed a public lottery to raise money for Olympic installations. The Criminal Code was changed. Vice became virtue. The end justifies the means.

Or does it?

For some, lotteries are an innocent diversion. But most of those who buy lottery tickets can’t afford them. Service clubs that run bingo know that the best take is on the night after the welfare cheques are issued.

And in the current economic downturn, lotteries are seen as a last resort; a desperate grab for a life ring when it feels like you’re fiscally drowning. According to David Just, associate professor of economics at Cornell University, “It’s the Hail Mary”.

Government smiles a Cheshire grin. Instead of offering better income tax incentives to support worthy causes and being honest about the odds of winning the big one, government knows that lotteries and casinos are a licence to print money. What ever happened to ruling with justice and charity towards the weak and powerless?

The Ontario government is betting on gambling to help get it out of debt. Gambling should never be considered a salve for financial pain. Not for the government. Not for individuals.

Lori Griffith, co-ordinator of core programs for Addiction Services of Thames Valley in London, writes that, “while many people gamble as a form of entertainment, for individuals who develop problems, the consequences are much more than just financial. Gambling problems cause relationship difficulties, emotional/mental health concerns, employment troubles and may lead to legal problems. The expansion and modernization strategy by the OLG will make gambling available virtually everywhere, increasing the risks for vulnerable people.” Case in point, Addiction Services offers off-site self-­exclusion for individuals who would like to add themselves to a list to be banned from entering the current 27 OLG gambling sites. Those who are trying to break their gambling addiction and have found this service helpful will now have a harder time trying to avoid big-box stores and checkouts that carry lottery tickets.

The OLG report also says that it needs to begin to attract younger people to gambling to help make up lost profits. Does greed know no bounds? Again, Griffith points out that with early exposure to gambling, youth are at a far higher risk for gambling problems later in life.

Oh, but there’s money to be made and maybe more jobs. London Mayor Joe Fontana and Western Fair District are said to be in talks with OLG to consider developing a full-blown casino in the Forest City.

Londoners voted soundly against a casino but referenda can be ignored if there’s money to be made.

And who makes the money? The average casino keeps about 18% of every dollar bet. Gambling isn’t gambling after all. It’s a sure thing.

We lose.

Rev. Bob Ripley is a retired United Church minister.