Is it time to tighten the rules on online gambling?

In 1975, the government of Ontario Premier Bill Davis unveiled “Wintario,” its first lottery. Weekly ticket draws were held for prizes as high as $100,000.  

Those who objected to the introduction of government “gambling” were reminded that the revenues would only be used for non-critical local projects, like new community arenas or baseball diamonds, not to increase general government revenues. 

At the time, a cynical, world-weary backbench member in the government caucus, mumbled to this author, “our government has just taken its first shot of heroin!”

He feared it meant the government was starting down the road of being addicted to gambling revenues. He was not wrong.  

Wintario morphed into a bewildering array of lottery ticket draws with mega-million-dollar prizes, gambling casinos and now, on-line gambling.  

Online gambling seems to be everywhere. Constant television, radio and online ads encourage us to bet on this online casino or that online sports game. The government even set up a new agency three years ago to run it all, iGaming Ontario.  

According to the agency’s most recent annual report, online gambling generated over $82 billion in total wagers, contributing almost $3 billion to the province’s coffers last fiscal year alone, with at least 25 percent more expected next year. Approximately 15,000 jobs depend on the industry. 

Ontario is now among the top five online gambling markets in North America.    

The province may spend over $244 billion a year to run the province but $3 billion is not pocket change. It can and does help buy a lot of services and infrastructure.  

But what needs to be adequately factored into the equation is the cost of generating this much needed revenue.  

According to Ontario’s chief coroner, suicides by people with gambling addictions are increasing; hospitals report emergency room visits for people with gambling disorders have doubled; financial insolvencies involving gambling addictions have tripled; and Ontario’s problem gambling help line is also receiving more and more calls from people seeking assistance. 

People with addictions are advised to quit completely.  You can’t be a part-time alcoholic or an occasional gambler if you are addicted.    

But what about governments? They are in constant need of more revenue to pay for more services for an aging population and crumbling infrastructure.   

Woe to the finance minister who promises higher taxes or government spending cutbacks as a solution. Most taxpayers would probably choose gambling revenue over these solutions.  

But how does one find the balance between the price we are willing to pay as a society for gambling addiction in exchange for the revenue and jobs gambling can and does produce? What is the appropriate level of control needed to minimize abuse, and help those in need while still getting the benefit of revenue?

The questions seem cold and calculating. But they are the right ones and there are no easy answers.  As this writer has observed on occasion, there are rarely “right” solutions, just an endless stream of “least wrong” choices.  

And that is certainly the case here. But a good first step is data; do we really know what is going on out there in the gambling market? Are different policies required?  

Instead of furthering the province’s understanding of the issue, iGaming Ontario has become embroiled in a controversy with researchers over attempts to produce accurate studies on the extent and impact of on-line gambling.  

The Toronto Star has accused the agency of secretly shelving a research study intended to track rates of problem gambling.  

The agency has taken the position that Ontario’s online gambling market “has some of the strictest standards in the country, and we continue to work with our partners to strengthen responsible gaming and protect players across the province.”

That may well be the case, but it takes good data to know.  And the initial information from our hospitals, helplines and financial advisors is waving red flags.

It is time for Zee Hamid, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming to step in and sort it out so the provincial government has what it needs to determine whether tighter policies and controls are needed.

Revenue is needed, but we need to know, at what price.