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Report: Canadians Gambling More19 July 2002CANADA – As reported by the Globe and Mail: "Canada is increasingly a country of card sharks, odds players and jackpot hopefuls, a trend that filled federal and provincial coffers to the tune of $10.7-billion in 2001, nearly quadruple the level of net revenue in 1992, Statistics Canada reports. "And the Statscan numbers paint only part of the Canadian gambling picture. First nations-run operations such as casinos and bingo palaces are not included in that total; neither are charity casinos or illegal gambling operations such as those available on the Internet, Statscan senior analyst Henry Pold said. "…Lotteries, casinos and video-lottery terminals contributed $6- billion worth of profits to Canadian governments last year, up considerably from the $1.7-billion in profits in 1992. "…`Obviously, there's a maturation of the gambling industry in this country,' said Jason Azmier, a senior policy analyst who studies gambling at the Canada West Foundation, a non-profit public-policy research institute based in Calgary. `But there continues to be growth as more people become aware of what's out there.' "…`It's a reality that it's another form of revenue generation. We surveyed Canadians on this and the majority are very supportive of using gambling to generate revenue if it keeps their taxes low.' "…On average, Canadians over the age of 18 spent $424 on gambling in 2000, Statscan said. But that number varied from a low of $106 per person in the three territories to a high of $536 in Manitoba. "…John Borody, chief executive officer of The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, said the more than one million residents of the province have more access than most Canadians to gambling venues. "…According to the Canada West study, net revenues from electronic gambling machines such as slots and video-lottery terminals rose nearly 1,400 per cent between 1992 and 2000." |