Wednesday 1 December was the day that all in Quebec had been marking down on their calendars – it had nothing to do with them being able to open the first chocolate on their Montreal Canadiens advent calendar. It was something else entirely. An activity that many would describe as being one of the evils that exist in the world today, but Quebecans actually strike us as a very fun bunch of people.
Yesterday was the official start to the fun and games that government-owned self regulated online gaming is continuing to bring each Canadian province one by one. This is the right move for Quebec to make as long as they don’t pretend they’re regulated by an arms length regulatory body. They’re not, and shouldn’t pretend they’re going to somehow be safer or better than the private and regulated gaming companies, mostly headquartered out of the centre of the iGaming universe London, as they aren’t.
Admittedly, it wasn’t anywhere near as fun as sitting back and watching British Columbia’s Playnow.com flounder as if a child learning to swim with no assistance, but hats off to them. If they’re happy enough to put a competitive boat in the water then we’re more than happy to see it happen.
