Windsor-Tecumseh NDP MP Joe Comartin introduced a private members bill last week to amend the criminal code and legalize betting on single sporting events, as reported by the Windsor Star. Comartin is pushing the legalization of sportsbetting in Canadian casinos feeling the move will bolster local economies and cut out organized crime.
Comartin told the Toronto Sun, “It’s silly now. You can bet on three CFL games, but you can’t bet on just one…Some of this (betting laws) goes back hundreds of years when the King had a problem with soldiers gambling too much. We need to bring it into the 21st Century.”
Comartin is bang on, considering that Ontario casinos already have sportsbooks that permit sportsbetting but limit it only to the government-run lottery Pro-Line, where betters can only select the outcomes of three or more sporting contests. So, basically you can already bet on sports, you just have to do it in a messed up way. What is that? Realistically, it doesn’t make much sense.
Comartin’s proposal would bring Canadian casinos up to speed and ahead of their counterparts just south of the border by allowing betting on the individual major professional sports as well as soccer and other casino games.
Let’s face the facts, Canadians already bet on sports, whether it be online or through other means, it all adds up to millions of dollars that casinos aren’t getting.
Without question a change in the legalities of sportsbetting in Canadian casinos will not only put more money into the local economy, but it will likely draw more American tourists into the country which will also have a positive effect on the economies.
