gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

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community representatives were concerned that dollars being gambled locally were not being returned in the form of charitable allocations. A minimal toll on physical infrastructure was reported by most individuals. In some cases this minimal impact was due to taking infrastructure deterioration into account in future budgets. In some communities outside of Calgary and Edmonton it was reported that the services created for the new casino permitted the respective city development agencies to promote expansion of new businesses. Once again, tourism was cited as a positive for casinos, yet there is no available statistical data available from community representatives to provide verification or quantification of this. Casino-casino competition was not considered to be an issue; nor were there many concerns expressed about casino placement near residential communities. In general, casinos were portrayed by most officials as relatively benign entities. Perceived Negative Aspects of Gambling and Casinos Little local public resistance to casinos was noted, although the discussion of VLTs inevitably raised concerns. Many community representatives were highly critical of the provincially-controlled Alberta gaming model and of AGLC. One of the key issues voiced was the lack of influence that municipalities have over casino applications. The process as it currently exists involves 8 stages. However, the local municipality is not involved until stage 4 where the applicant has to demonstrate community support for the new facility to go forward. However, ultimately the province has overriding authority to decide on these applications. The only leverage the city has concerns the casino’s need for a building permit, with this permit having to be obtained even prior to submitting the casino application. AGLC and the provincial government were portrayed as a reluctant partner that was at times non-communicative and unwilling to respond to municipal concerns. Some officials reported that AGLC was slow in pulling licenses from problematic gaming establishments thus forcing municipalities to allocate resources to take care of gambling-related issues that were provincial in orientation but impacted people at the community/municipal level. Community representatives often reiterated concerns expressed by the mayors about a perceived lack of transparency about how provincial gambling revenues are distributed. Finally, community representatives suggested the current organization of government gambling might be less than optimal from a cost perspective. When the Ministry of Gaming was dissolved in 2006, it is their perception that these responsibilities devolved to several different ministries, all of whom incur bureaucratic costs before distributing gambling revenue. 212
Several community representatives also expressed their disappointment at the provincial government’s failure to increase municipal funding concomitant with increased gambling revenues, especially for social services. Variable funding for social services was presented as problematic, making it difficult to offer effective programs not knowing the next year’s allocation. Edmonton in particular reported that social services was also under stress due primarily to problem gambling concerns. Concern with casinos and gambling varied. Some Calgary officials were opposed to gambling from a moral perspective. Camrose officials expressed unease with casino development, reflecting perceptions of negative economic impacts. Gambling as a regressive form of taxation was occasionally mentioned, as was the concentration of casinos in economically deprived sectors of the community. One official from Edmonton stated that city infrastructure was being negatively impacted by casinos and VLT sites. As regards First Nations casinos located adjacent to municipalities, an Edmonton official expressed concern that the Enoch grounds are so large as to hinder local business expansion, and that there have been no municipal economic spinoffs associated with this casino. Main Themes It is evident from the preceding analysis that the issues raised by the mayors and community representatives resonate with each other on many levels. Community representatives were somewhat more focused on community operations, and mayors were more focused on community-wide issues. In both cases, empirical data was rarely cited to support the opinions that were readily offered. It was also the case that there were almost no instances in which opinions on these issues were not expressed. To be fair, however, people would often preface their responses by indicating that what they were about to say was ‘simply their opinion’. Underscoring this point is the fact that understanding the social and economic impacts of casinos and gambling at a municipal level is not a central focus, as this is just one of a myriad of issues these individuals face as part of their job. The previous thematic analysis identified the key subjects most concerning mayors and community representatives. The present section presents these key themes and explores them in greater detail. Economic Development and Employment Each mayor interviewed indicated that they believed that their local casinos were important economic generators, specifically citing casino employment and tourism as the two primary benefits. Community representatives generally concurred. 213
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Plant fertilizer 2011 GAMBLING IN A
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Citation Williams, R.J., Belanger,
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AMOUNTS, ORIGINS, AND RECIPIENTS OF
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ABSTRACT At a provincial level, the
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Alberta is estimated to have 3,755,
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than empirical in nature. Thus, the
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While the above described approach
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census. A supplemental Online Gener
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THEORETICAL APPROACH PROBLEMS WITH
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Aside from these practical issues,
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SOUND PRINCIPLES FOR CONDUCTING SOC
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Again, other ways of organizing and
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4. The transfer of wealth and chang
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Compare Changes to those Observed i
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to document prior gambling opportun
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Mid 1700s to late 1800s 1869 - 1892
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Cheating at gambling (Part XXVIII F
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1924 Criminal Code amendment to s.9
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1957 Western Canadian Racing Associ
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1980s There is a major expansion of
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1989 In June the Criminal Code of C
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1997 AGLC allows the number of slot
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2003 Federal agriculture minister m
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HISTORY OF EACH TYPE OF GAMBLING Th
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Number of Live Race Days per Year I
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Table 1: Total Raffle Licences per
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Table 2: Total Pull-Ticket Licences
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Table 3: Total Bingo Licences per Y
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Table 5: Total Bingo Events per Yea
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Table 6: Total Lottery Ticket Retai
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Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) In A
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Table 8: Total Video Lottery Locati
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1996 Slot machines and electronic h
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The main indices that speak to chan
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Table 12: Total Charitable Casino L
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REGULATORY AND ORGANIZATIONAL HISTO
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HISTORY OF FIRST NATIONS COMMERCIAL
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CURRENT REGULATION, AVAILABILITY, A
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aggregate value of all tickets sold
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ALBERTA GOVERNMENT GAMBLING The Cri
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CASINOS Traditional Casinos Casinos
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percentage of table game revenue re
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Figure 15. Location of Current and
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HORSE RACING Horse racing is the on
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Bingo Lotteries and Instant Win (Sc
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AMOUNTS, ORIGINS, AND RECIPIENTS OF
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Another way of looking at the overa
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increase has occurred since the ear
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WHERE IS THE MONEY COMING FROM? As
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Figure 20: Proportion of Alberta Ne
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Origin of Net Gambling Revenue by D
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Table 18: Past Year Gambling Partic
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EGM Players Table 20 shows reasonab
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Table 21: Percentage of Each Type o
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winsorized then 75% of reported exp
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Table 22a: Demographic Profile of t
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patronage and revenue. Attendance f
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However, less important than the ac
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Because of the paramount importance
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Actual Revenue Another source of da
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Figure 25: Average Ticket Lottery R
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WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING? The final
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industry. The proportion of gamblin
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Table 27: Grants Awarded by Alberta
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since 1999; 47% of all revenue in 2
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IMPACTS OF LEGAL GAMBLING IMPACTS O
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‘addicted to gambling revenue’.
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Several factors influence the perce
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There are also some important lesso
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Figure 30: Proportion of Total Net
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Figure 31: Number of Charities per
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IMPACTS ON SOCIETY The citizens of
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Number of Alberta Gambling Employee
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Table 34: North American Industry C
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Table 35: Importance of Gambling as
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percentage of the population (i.e.,
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Table 37: Household Past Year Repor
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40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% F
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Although Albertans are satisfied wi
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A final attitude question asked in
Page 161 and 162: Figure 41: What sort of overall imp
Page 163 and 164: Prevalence Problem Gambling and Rel
Page 165 and 166: Williams & Volberg (2010) also calc
Page 167 and 168: Features of Problem Gamblers The ty
Page 169 and 170: significant change in reported casi
Page 171 and 172: Table 43: Gambling and Problem Gamb
Page 173 and 174: their shared variance is taken into
Page 175 and 176: Treatment Numbers and Costs Treatme
Page 177 and 178: The only readily available figures
Page 179 and 180: OSB reports there were a total of 7
Page 181 and 182: Table 49: Consumer Insolvency Rates
Page 183 and 184: Another approach is to establish th
Page 185 and 186: that gambling had resulted in separ
Page 187 and 188: Applying these prevalence rates to
Page 189 and 190: gambling-related illegal acts and 8
Page 191 and 192: It is important to remember that th
Page 193 and 194: Table 52: Criminal Charges Laid by
Page 195 and 196: early 1990s, that was followed by a
Page 197 and 198: Table 54: Correlation between Crime
Page 199 and 200: Infrastructure Value The private se
Page 201 and 202: With respect to this first possibil
Page 203 and 204: increase in the comparison periods;
Page 205 and 206: Census Division Table 57: Business
Page 207 and 208: versus 2.2%). Commercial insolvency
Page 209 and 210: thinking in an interpretative act;
Page 211: The Edmonton mayor indicated he bel
Page 215 and 216: daytime usage ... if it’s shoppin
Page 217 and 218: Increased crime was a related issue
Page 219 and 220: IMPACT ON FIRST NATIONS The impact
Page 221 and 222: Table 59: Use of First Nations Char
Page 223 and 224: Table 60: Distributions to Differen
Page 225 and 226: Table 60 illustrates that the large
Page 227 and 228: McKay, Heart Lake and the Athabasca
Page 229 and 230: Geographical Distribution As seen i
Page 231 and 232: Figure 51: Average Per Community FN
Page 233 and 234: Employment and Income Impacts of Fi
Page 235 and 236: etter skilled individuals in the co
Page 237 and 238: Problem Gambling A recent review of
Page 239 and 240: Table 65: Prevalence of Problem Gam
Page 241 and 242: $500 chip. One municipal official c
Page 243 and 244: Both the increased affluence and th
Page 245 and 246: The Enoch Cree Nation has to pay ba
Page 247 and 248: The fire department also represents
Page 249 and 250: chances. One official stated that t
Page 251 and 252: With the exception of 2006-2007, th
Page 253 and 254: Post-Script: Barriers to Participat
Page 255 and 256: (Indian Act, 1985). The latter coul
Page 257 and 258: SUMMARY Research Approach The prese
Page 259 and 260: 1% (or less) of Alberta GDP since t
Page 261 and 262: can be said of charitable gambling
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Because revenue from charity casino
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Socioeconomic Inequality Alberta ga
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Despite the relatively low rates of
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supplies/equipment or to reinvest i
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Some of these sentiments tend to su
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communities highlight the casinos a
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ASSESSMENT OF THE OVERALL IMPACTS O
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2. The economic activity increases
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OVERALL SOCIAL IMPACTS Legalized ga
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OVERALL IMPACTS At a provincial lev
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however, that the potential for bri
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REFERENCES Abbott, M.W., Williams,
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Centre for Social and Health Outcom
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Jackson, D. (2010). VLT critic call
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Purdy, C. (2004). Band stakes its f
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Walker, D.M. (2008a). Challenges th
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2008 Survey APPENDICES Appendix A:
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General Population Targeted INELIGI
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are interested in the opinions of b
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PAST YEAR GAMBLING BEHAVIOUR GY1a.
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GY6a. In the past 12 months, how of
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Cash Casino - Red Deer (15) Jackpot
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GY10a. In the past 12 months, how o
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GY14a. In the past 12 months, what
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GP4. CPGI4/PPGM8b. In the past 12 m
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GP11b. In the past 12 months has ga
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GP16a. PPGM8c. In the past 12 month
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The following question only asked o
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TRIANGULATION (ONLINE PANEL ONLY) T
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Exact amount________________ (17) U
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2009 Survey The 2009 survey was als
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C11. Do you have pleasant memories
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SURVEY YEAR 1992 1993 1995 1996 199
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2008 2008 2009 2009 Williams, Belan
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1 Medicine Hat 2 Lethbridge 3 Fort
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8. In the past 12 months, have you
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Appendix F: Alberta’s Economic Re
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7. A thorough due diligence investi
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