Opinion: The risk of not acting is real. The timing is urgent. The federal government should use the March 19 budget to make this happen
For a government that wants to do anything and everything possible to secure Canadian jobs, amending legislation to allow for single-game sports betting seems like the biggest no-brainer of them all. It costs the federal government nothing; it protects consumers by channelling current unregulated gaming into a regulated environment; it channels revenue, currently leaving the country, to the provincial governments and toward government programs; and most importantly, it protects and creates jobs.
Michigan and New York are moving forward. We know exactly what happens when the U.S. casinos have an advantage. In 2006, the Smoke Free Ontario Act created an unlevel playing field. Revenue at Caesars Windsor dropped 27 per cent the next year. This is not theory or hypothetical, this is fact. The impact was immediate. With craps, it was a Liberal government, with the Hon. Herb Gray as the champion to allow craps into Canadian casinos, that moved swiftly to amend the Criminal Code to provide Caesars Windsor with a level competitive playing field with Michigan, thus avoiding a major impact. When the playing field is level, we compete.
Jerry Dias and Dave Cassidy – National Post – March 13, 2019.