Online gambling appears in the cards for the Canadian province of Alberta after the government-run gaming monopoly launched a tender for a technology provider. In January, the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commissiion (AGLC) said the concept of a government-run online gambling site was “actively under review” after determining there were “expectations from consumers that [online gambling] be available to Alberta players.”
On Sunday, Metro News reported that the AGLC had set a “late February” deadline for would-be “turnkey solutions” providers to make Alberta a pitch. CEO Bill Robinson said the AGLC was “going out into the market place to see what types of programs exist and would be best for us.” Assuming they see something they like, provincial finance minister Robin Campbell would make the final call.
Alberta’s opposition parties are already decrying the move, saying the resource-dependent government was trying to close budget gaps caused by the recent plunge in the price of oil. Campbell spokesperson Kevin Zahara rejected this accusation, saying online gambling wasn’t part of the minister’s budget process although the government was interested to see what types of bids the tender attracts.
Alberta and Saskatchewan are the last two major Canadian provinces yet to hop on the online gambling bandwagon, although Saskatchewan has flirted with the idea. Alberta’s interest comes just one month after Canada’s largest province Ontario launched its PlayOLG.ca site.
C-YA C-290 AS ELECTION LOOMS
Meanwhile, the country’s long-stalled single-game sports betting bill is back in the news. C-290 sailed through the House of Commons with all-party support nearly three years ago but has been stalled in the Senate ever since. Senators returned from their holidays last week just as the Super Bowl betting hype was reaching fever pitch, allowing the usual suspects another opportunity to make the usual complaints.
Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa joined the pro-C-290 choir, saying the debt-laden province and communities with casinos like Windsor and Niagara Falls could use the extra jobs and revenue that sports betting could provide. Sousa told the CBC that the Senate “should move on it, and that’s been the wishes of the federal government and all parties at the federal level.”
Yes, but that was then, and this is now. Canada is prepping for a federal election at some point this year and if the Senate fails to pass C-290 by the time the ruling Tories drop the writ, the legislation will die on the order paper and will have to start all over from scratch in the House of Commons. Suffice it to say, the hubbub over C-290 guarantees it won’t pass with the same ease it did three years ago, if at all.
Consider recent comments by MP Justin Trudeau, who is heading into his first election as leader of the Liberal party, which is likely to prove the Tories’ biggest threat in 2015. Last month, Trudeau told the Windsor Independent he was “happy” that the Senate had put roadblocks in C-290’s way, saying it was “a bill that was passed fairly quickly in the House with not as much study as there should have been.”
Trudeau’s comments have outraged some Windsor pols, who point out that Trudeau was among those who voiced no objection to C-290 the first time around. But Trudeau’s flip-flop means little given the opposition C-290 faces in getting past obstructionist senators like Vernon White, who told the Globe & Mail that C-290 “will never be voted on. It’s a private member’s bill, so it’s not a priority. And if it did come to a vote, I hope we have the numbers to defeat it.”
