gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

operator, as these things have the potential to negatively impact revenue. The extent to which
this conflict has occurred in Alberta is unclear. Certainly, the prevention measures that have
been implemented have tended to be the less effective ones (similar to other provinces)
(Williams, West, & Simpson, 2007, 2008). On the other hand, the sensitivity of provincial
governments to this conflict of interest criticism has arguably spurred them to prioritize
‘responsible gambling’ in a much greater way compared to jurisdictions that do not have this
conflict (e.g., U.S.). In general, evidence from other fields (i.e., alcohol provision) indicates that
government provision of ‘problematic products’ tends to be associated with safer provision.
This would also appear to be the pattern observed cross-jurisdictionally with the provision of
gambling. As will be discussed in the Economic Impacts summary section (later in this report),
in additional to somewhat greater social protection, there may also be economic advantages of
this government model of delivery.
Impacts of Legal Gambling on Charitable/Community Organizations
The main impact of legal gambling on charitable/community organizations is that it facilitates
the ongoing ability of these organizations to provide the local activities and services engaged in
by these community groups. This, involvement, in turn, directly or indirectly benefits the
citizens of Alberta.
In many jurisdictions the emergence of EGM and casino gambling run by governments or the
private sector has negatively impacted charitable gambling revenue. This is not the case in
Alberta due to the fact that a) the provincial government has dedicated a significant and
relatively stable percentage of its own revenue to charity grants (an average of 21%), and b)
charity groups have been given the ability to directly operate and/or benefit from casino
gambling.
One of the potential concerns with charitable access to gambling revenue is that this might
decrease Albertan’s willingness to contribute to charities in other ways. However, there is no
evidence of this, as the size of Albertan donations to charitable groups has represented a fairly
stable percentage of their after-tax income since 1997.
Another issue concerns whether community/charity groups have developed an overreliance on
gambling revenue. The evidence would tend to indicate that many charity/community groups
have indeed come to rely on gambling revenue, with the degree of this reliance often being
higher for groups associated with sports, recreation, health, and somewhat lower for religious
groups. There are also considerably more community groups in Alberta now seeking gambling
revenue to support their activities. In the early 1990s it was typical for 2,000 to 3,000
community groups to receive Alberta Lottery Fund grants, whereas it has averaged 6,000
Alberta Lottery Fund grant recipients per year in the past 10 years. Similarly, in 2000 there
were under 4,000 charities registered to hold a casino event. This number has increased to
over 7,000 in 2010.
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