Despite official denials and claims of ignorance, there is plenty of evidence to indicate the province of Ontario and the federal government are working quietly behind the scenes to amend the Criminal Code to allow "sportsbooks" -betting on individual professional sports games -in Ontario casinos.
Apparently casinos are hurting big-time in the province, and this is a move by some government officials to try and increase revenues for the casinos and, by default, also for the province, which as most of you know ran a budget deficit in the first quarter of the year.
However, one has to ask whether this is a step Ontarians want their government to take. There is already ample evidence of a growing gambling problem in the province, and this would only serve to facilitate that problem.
Currently, Ontario casinos do have some sports betting but it's limited to the government-run Pro-Line lottery in which gamblers select the outcomes of three or more contests on a "parlay" ticket.
According to a story by The Canadian Press, government officials confirmed the province is urging Ottawa to amend the Criminal Code to allow casino "sportsbooks" -a section of the facility where gamblers could make bets on individual games.
For the complete story, please see Editorial, All bets are off on this proposal The Daily Observer, July 6, 2008
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