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Canada to Legalize Internet Gaming??
Ottawa weighs law to allow Net gambling
Among first in west: 'I am optimistic,' Toronto MP tells e-game convention
Tom Blackwell
National Post
TORONTO - Ottawa is considering a new law that would legalize Internet gambling for the first time in Canada, says a Liberal MP who has championed the online betting industry.
Dennis Mills, who represents the Toronto-Danforth riding, sent a buzz through delegates at an international e-gaming convention in Toronto yesterday when he suggested the legislation could come as early as this fall.
He later admitted no one in government has promised there will be a law, let alone that quickly. But if it did proceed, Canada would become one of the few Western nations to endorse the controversial business.
In another sign of movement toward legalized Web gaming, an Ontario lottery corporation official told the same convention the provinces may soon permit people to buy lottery tickets over the Net.
Mr. Mills said the federal Departments of Justice and Canadian Heritage have been "aggressively" studying the Internet gambling issue for the past several months, looking at possible amendments to the Criminal Code that would legalize cyber wagering.
"I am optimistic," he told an audience of several hundred at the Global Interactive Gaming Summit. "If all of a sudden we develop a system that had the government of Canada, House of Commons stamp of approval, that would do a lot of good for your industry."
Dan Donovan, an Ottawa-based lobbyist for a Mohawk-owned Internet business, said Heritage officials have told him they are looking at legalized gaming sites as a possible means of raising money for Olympic sports.
But a Heritage Department spokeswoman said yesterday she was unaware of such discussions.
A Justice Department spokeswoman could not be reached.
Although it is illegal to run an Internet gambling site in Canada, Canadian companies are heavily involved in the industry, mostly supplying software for casinos based in offshore sites like Antigua.
Critics strongly oppose any legalization of the business in Canada, saying it would only encourage a form of gambling they believe is highly addictive.
Mr. Mills introduced a private member's bill in 1996 that would have made Internet gambling legal, only to see it die on the order paper when an election was called. Mr. Mills said he approached Jean Chrétien in 1997 and discussed re-introducing the legislation, but the Prime Minister was against the idea, saying he believed Internet gaming would prey on the poor.
Mr. Mills said he raised the issue again eight months ago, pointing out to Mr. Chrétien that revenue from online betting could be used to fund the "destitute" amateur sports system and health care.
"To my surprise he said, 'If we can have Justice and Heritage look at this in a way that all those protections are built in, and the regulatory framework is designed in such a way that the consumer is protected, then let's take a look at it.' "
The Criminal Code gives the provinces the sole right to operate or license gambling facilities. Prince Edward Island is the only province to dabble in Internet gaming, but its attempt to license a charity to run an online lottery was shot down recently by the province's Supreme Court, which said the game would illegally invade other provinces' gambling turf.
Mr. Mills said a law would be designed so that Ottawa could regulate online gaming, but would ensure provinces received a cut of revenue from gamblers within their own borders.
Meanwhile, Antonio Carvalho, an official from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., said yesterday his agency is considering the sale of tickets on the Web.
"We are looking at what we call e-commerce -- allowing our customers to buy lottery products over the Internet. It won't be gambling on the Internet. It would be, for example, buying a 6-49 ticket for tomorrow night's draw," he said.
He said it is possible to set up the system to work within the current law, so that individual provinces do not poach customers.
[email protected]
Among first in west: 'I am optimistic,' Toronto MP tells e-game convention
Tom Blackwell
National Post
TORONTO - Ottawa is considering a new law that would legalize Internet gambling for the first time in Canada, says a Liberal MP who has championed the online betting industry.
Dennis Mills, who represents the Toronto-Danforth riding, sent a buzz through delegates at an international e-gaming convention in Toronto yesterday when he suggested the legislation could come as early as this fall.
He later admitted no one in government has promised there will be a law, let alone that quickly. But if it did proceed, Canada would become one of the few Western nations to endorse the controversial business.
In another sign of movement toward legalized Web gaming, an Ontario lottery corporation official told the same convention the provinces may soon permit people to buy lottery tickets over the Net.
Mr. Mills said the federal Departments of Justice and Canadian Heritage have been "aggressively" studying the Internet gambling issue for the past several months, looking at possible amendments to the Criminal Code that would legalize cyber wagering.
"I am optimistic," he told an audience of several hundred at the Global Interactive Gaming Summit. "If all of a sudden we develop a system that had the government of Canada, House of Commons stamp of approval, that would do a lot of good for your industry."
Dan Donovan, an Ottawa-based lobbyist for a Mohawk-owned Internet business, said Heritage officials have told him they are looking at legalized gaming sites as a possible means of raising money for Olympic sports.
But a Heritage Department spokeswoman said yesterday she was unaware of such discussions.
A Justice Department spokeswoman could not be reached.
Although it is illegal to run an Internet gambling site in Canada, Canadian companies are heavily involved in the industry, mostly supplying software for casinos based in offshore sites like Antigua.
Critics strongly oppose any legalization of the business in Canada, saying it would only encourage a form of gambling they believe is highly addictive.
Mr. Mills introduced a private member's bill in 1996 that would have made Internet gambling legal, only to see it die on the order paper when an election was called. Mr. Mills said he approached Jean Chrétien in 1997 and discussed re-introducing the legislation, but the Prime Minister was against the idea, saying he believed Internet gaming would prey on the poor.
Mr. Mills said he raised the issue again eight months ago, pointing out to Mr. Chrétien that revenue from online betting could be used to fund the "destitute" amateur sports system and health care.
"To my surprise he said, 'If we can have Justice and Heritage look at this in a way that all those protections are built in, and the regulatory framework is designed in such a way that the consumer is protected, then let's take a look at it.' "
The Criminal Code gives the provinces the sole right to operate or license gambling facilities. Prince Edward Island is the only province to dabble in Internet gaming, but its attempt to license a charity to run an online lottery was shot down recently by the province's Supreme Court, which said the game would illegally invade other provinces' gambling turf.
Mr. Mills said a law would be designed so that Ottawa could regulate online gaming, but would ensure provinces received a cut of revenue from gamblers within their own borders.
Meanwhile, Antonio Carvalho, an official from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., said yesterday his agency is considering the sale of tickets on the Web.
"We are looking at what we call e-commerce -- allowing our customers to buy lottery products over the Internet. It won't be gambling on the Internet. It would be, for example, buying a 6-49 ticket for tomorrow night's draw," he said.
He said it is possible to set up the system to work within the current law, so that individual provinces do not poach customers.
[email protected]
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