Lottery Lollapalooza

A new year in our province, and with the BC Liberals in power, you know what that means: a new lie! I'm talking of course about the expansion of online gambling in our province. The recent fallout from it is similar to the HST. The party said they weren't going to do it before the election, but after the ballots were counted they had a sudden change of heart. How convenient.

Solicitor General John Les had this to say in the Legislature on February 21st, 2007: "There will be no internet gaming conducted by the B.C. Lottery Corp. - period ... We are not going to entertain Internet gaming."

In 2007 Mr. Les was against the expansion of online gaming. In 2010 his party did just the opposite. I don't care how you spin it: that's flip-flopping. If John Les were a true man of character, he would stick to his words and come out publicly against this expansion. But I wouldn't expect a Liberal to do something good for the common people of British Columbia: it's just not in their blood.

The BC Liberal election platform of 2001 had this to say about the issue: "Stop the expansion of gambling that has increased gambling addiction and put new strains on families." There are a few things wrong with that sentence, but I'll cut to the chase. They pledged not to expand gambling in 2001, and now don't much care about putting additional strains on families. Could this possibly be a new chapter in the book of broken promises these fine politicians have crafted since 2001?

Kevin Krueger: "Women in British Columbia will die because of gambling expansion; that's the prediction of some of our experts at UBC. Some 37 percent of the spouses of pathological gamblers abuse their children. So children may die as a result of gambling expansion..." (Hansard, June 12th, 1997)

The BC Lottery Corporations newest website isn't just putting lives at risk; it's putting your financial security at risk. Less than a day after it's opening, the website was shut down because twelve players playing money had been compromised. The website is still down, but it took us near a week for the government to tell us the truth about why it was shut down. In case you're keeping count at home that is lie number 947.

This government is willing to risk the lives of women and children simply to make a profit. What the hell is wrong with these people? Some British Columbians have serious gambling addictions that must be dealt with, but when a casino appears in front of them on their laptop, that's asking for trouble. Once again in something that unfortunately is becoming common, they are putting profit before people. Thanks Liberals, thanks a bunch, we can always trust you to do the right thing.