Astonishing fact number one: Last year, gamblers in Nova Scotia pumped more than
$708 million into Video Lottery Terminals, the equivalent of nearly $2
million a day. That info comes from the Nova Scotia Gaming
Corporation’s annual report released last week. It shows that in the
2008/2009 financial year which ended in March, VLT betting increased by
5.3 percent over the year before. The provincial government’s share of
the VLT take rose to a tidy $100.7 million, a hefty six percent
increase.
Astonishing fact number two: Nearly 60 percent of the gambling
revenues the province took in last year came from VLTs. No wonder the
government is so addicted to the steady flow of money from machines
that critics have dubbed “the crack cocaine of gambling.” No matter
that problem gamblers lose jobs, homes and families. No matter that VLT
habits lead to bankruptcy, suicide and crime. The province must have
that $100 million!
But wait. That may have been so under the hard-hearted Tories who
introduced VLT gambling to Nova Scotia in 1991. Or under the
greed-driven Liberals who sharply increased the number of VLTs after
they got elected in 1993. But a brand new, family-friendly NDP
government will surely take a much dimmer view of machines that cause
so much heartache. After all, as a provincial report pointed out last
year, problem gambling rates are especially high among students, the
unemployed and the disabled. The report noted that almost 40 percent of
gambling losses came from the 6.1 percent of the population classified
as at-risk or problem gamblers.
Surely an NDP government (unlike heartless Tories and Liberals)
would not prey on the most vulnerable among us. After all, wasn’t it
NDP leader Darrell Dexter himself who called in 2005 for a binding,
province-wide vote on VLTs? “The only people who have not been given a
direct say about the legalization of VLTs in Nova Scotia are Nova
Scotians themselves,” Dexter declared. “Every NDP MLA was elected on a
platform that committed our party to reducing the harm caused by VLTs,
through reduced access to the machines, much better access to addiction
services, and community control,” he added.
OK. That was Darrell Dexter, leader of Her Majesty’s fiercely loyal
opposition. Now that DD is our newly minted premier, he suddenly sees
no need for either a binding vote on VLTs or for reducing people’s
access to the machines. An official statement from the premier’s office
points out that starting in 2005, the Tories cut 1,000 VLTs (leaving
about 2,200 in place), reduced VLT speeds, removed the stop button and
required that the machines be turned off at midnight. Those Tory
solutions, combined with gambling help lines and improved addiction
services, seem to have magically solved our VLT problems, at least in
the eyes of our new NDP premier.
The NDP statement continues: “During the campaign, the premier said
that he does not support banning VLTs, but rather ensuring that
appropriate help for those with gambling addictions is available.” It
suggests that banning VLTs might drive problem gamblers into
unregulated betting on the internet. Yet provincial statistics show
that less than one percent of Nova Scotians indulge in internet
gambling. And most problem gamblers blame VLTs for their troubles. Some
47,000 adults in Nova Scotia are at risk for problem gambling, with
about 19,000 classified as problem gamblers. Problem gamblers lost over
10 times more than non-problem gamblers, and more than two-thirds cited
VLTs as their main gambling vice, according to provincial figures
released last year.
Meanwhile, the money from VLTs keeps rolling into provincial
coffers, while the Gaming Corp. reports that the province spends just
seven percent of overall gambling revenues on problem gambling
prevention, education, and treatment. Only a band-aid really,
especially where VLTs are concerned. But like the Tories and Liberals
before them, I hear the NDP cry, “Cha-ching! We must have that $100
million!”
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2009.
The NDP have had much to say and promise over the years in Nova Scotia. Now that they have control….. where’s the action items they promised? I believe over the next four years we will see the true fabric of the NDP emerge as they did in Ontario and British Columbia. I predict that by the end of this term, the taxpayers of Nova Scotia will be saying “never again” as they have in these other Provinces.
Wow, isn’t his amusing. The NDP have been in power less than half a year and we’re already ragging on them like they’ve been in power as long as the Conservatives. We should all remember that action from any government takes time.
They really aren’t in power at all yet, the house isn’t sitting, they got ‘in’ just in time to take the summer off. We kinda hafta wait till late Fall before anything really happens.
Meanwhile:
I can understand the value of the VLT gambling revenues and the help it gives us all here in Nova Scotia but it’s not right to continue tempting the poor fools that play these machines irresponsibly and destroy their lives by doing so.
I also understand the value of the VLT gambling revenues for the venues that put a roof over them and can balance their books because of it.
But:
My vote, if I have one in this matter, is to eliminate all the VLT’s in all establishments except the two casinos. Give a 1 year deadline to help the current providers make plans for living without the VLTs; say a January 1, 2011 end date.
To make up for this lost revenue to our government, income taxes should be raised. I suspect it will cost the average income earner $200 to $300 each in additional taxes.
Not much damage to Smee, and will save devastating damage to many who are tempted by these continuously and easily accessible addictive machines.
Sure, there are other ways to gamble your life away, and maybe some of these addicts will soon seek them out, but I’d rather not be a benefactor, thanks anyway!
Raise taxes! There’s an idea!
An EXCELLANT article!! And BANG ON!! It so funny how these idiots like Dexter whined about the VLT’s when they were in opposition. Get rid of them they said!! Then it was “AT least hold a referendum!! Now that they are in Power the silence speaks volumes. The fact is that DD NEEDS the cash from the VLT’s to finance all his LUDICROUS promises!! Remember? “I am going to open EVERY ER in the province and will do it WITHOUT raising taxes”! Or the ever popular “We will balance the book’s within a year of taking power” (of course this has been reppaced with the old political standby excuse of “we have no idea what shape the previous government left the books in so we cannot commit now”). Give us all a break Dexter. It was so easy to sit and criticize when you were not responsible for spending the cash. Now you realize that money does not indeed grow on trees.
Hopefully NS will boot these incompetant morons out in 4 years.
The NDP got elected because Dexter was able to show the electorate that it is not a scary party – in fact it is very like the Liberals and the Consevatives – all well-intetioned human beings. Now that the NDP is in office, and with a majority, it should be principled enough to stand for the philosophy that people bought into – the NDP supports regular people and ordinary families. Get rid of the VLTs. If there is a monetary shortfall, raise taxes. If the money so raised is spent wisely, to support the ordinary citizen and not (as the old line parties do) to prop up businesses and corporations and reward friends of the politicians, then the electorate will be plesed that their money is being well spent. Dexter needs to behave as though he has a majority. He CAN effect change, and has lots of time to do it. No better time to start, than right now!
Sounds like there’s some bitterness in the blue and red camps? What’s the matter blind lemmings, scared the truth about how badly YOU screwed everything up is going to comeout? At least the NDP are going to govern for the people and not the high powered, rich and famous lords of the flatbush duo that have finally been ousted. Give the Dexter Government a chance to Govern and stop the whining from the peanut gallery.