For anyone who hasn’t noticed, come out of your cave and see that online gambling is among the hottest topics in digital entertainment in North America. Online gambling is already going down in Washington DC, but north of the border, provinces are starting make the push as well.
They are well behind, international gaming companies have been capitalizing on the Canadian gaming market for many years, it’s only now that governments have realized the amount of money to be made. British Columbia and Quebec are already in the game and the province of Saskatchewan’s government remains interested in creating its own online gambling business, considering the millions it’s losing to international gaming companies already offering the service.
Ontario has made noise that it might look to get into online gambling by 2012, but that has met some resistance from gambling opponents. It is not surprising then that the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission (OLG) went to great extent to prepare a strong case for opening an online gambling site. If the main argument against it is control, then the WLA level 4 accreditation recently awarded to the OLG should hold some weight.
The WLA Level 4 accreditation means visitors to OLG’s gaming sites and its lottery players can be assured OLG is fully committed to educating its staff and empowering the public about responsible gaming.
The WLA also gave very high praise to OLG for its training program and encouraged the OLG to provide a publication of their program for other gaming operators. Certainly doesn’t hurt to have that kind of recognition when you’re going up against gambling opponents.
Canadian provinces will continue to feel the pressure particularly as the online gambling dynamics continue to change south of their border.
