Issue #31 Vol. 35, September 8th, 2009
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Opinions

Increased betting limits not a big deal

By Garth McLennan

The Liberal government has taken a lot of much deserved flak over the past few weeks. The HST, frequent lying, the BC Rail case, the HST, the fudge budget, obscene pay raises for top level politicians, the HST, spiralling Olympic costs, massive across-the-board health care funding cuts and the HST are a few latest reasons for which Premier Gordon Campbell has been vilified.

However, there is something that Campbell is taking heat for that is clearly getting blown out of proportion. I speak here of the furor caused over the massive increases to the limits of on-line gambling through the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC).

For those who don’t know, the Liberals have dramatically raised the amount British Columbians can gamble through the BCLC’s Play Now website. There has been an 8300 per cent increase from $120 maximum per week to $10,000. Now, the hardcore anti-gambling faction has decried this decision as pure evil that will undoubtedly destroy countless families. They have also said that when Campbell was elected for the first time eight years ago, it was on a promise that online gambling would be stamped out, or at the very least be heavily regulated and controlled.

That second part is true. Campbell did indeed make promises to control online gambling. However, on the running list of broken vows by Campbell, this is a long way from the most important. I’m not saying that Campbell should ever lie to the public; but really, after eight years, it might be time for a change for online gambling anyways.

As for this being capable of breaking apart families, sure, the potential is there. However, that is true of any vice. I mean, a person can drink or spend as much as they want. Besides, if someone is truly addicted to gambling, they can very easily walk into any one of the beautiful casinos throughout B.C. and blow the family nest egg with no limit whatsoever. I know that isn’t a nice image, but it’s the truth. There are a lot of gambling options out there for people, and the BCLC website is only a very, very small part.

What my position really comes down to is that B.C. isn’t a nanny state. I know there are people who want virtually everything to be government regulated but I believe that people should be allowed a good measure of freedom to make their own decisions and live with the consequences. Obviously there are exceptions to this position that I wholeheartedly agree with, such as smoking and drug enforcement laws, but if people want to gamble, then they should be allowed to gamble.