Open Letter to Council, Please Say No To Gaming Centre
By 250 News
Saturday, July 23, 2005 04:00 AM
-Deborah Munoz
I urge our civic leaders to say NO to expanded gambling in Prince George
In my view, the provincial government has gone too far with marketing gambling as an ‘emerging form of entertainment’ and encouraging local governments to expand gambling in their communities with the development of ‘Community Gaming Centers’.
Under the Campbell government, gambling has increased at an incredibly rapid rate in the past few years, despite saying they would not increase gambling in the province.
Access to gaming is as easy as a few hits on a keyboard from a home computer. Poker and card games are glamorized and now aired as regular TV shows with specialized card tables being sold in places like Superstore and London Drugs. Online tickets sales for sports betting is the government’s newest, competitive ‘business venture’ using marketing pitches through betting services like “Never Miss a Draw”, designed to charge tickets to your credit card at each and every draw.
The BC government has become addicted to gambling and won’t back away from its’ steadily increasing profits, and why would they, when they gained a surplus of $220 million this year and stand to gain a projected $650 million surplus in 2006-2007? Does government care if British Columbians spend a large portion of their earned income on gambling? A gambler who places a $500 bet at a table game (B.C.’S table bet limit) is considered to be participating responsibly in the game.
I am concerned over the destructive ‘spin offs’ which we as a society experience as a result of the social and psychological woes suffered by problem and addicted gamblers.
My sense is that the B.C. Lottery Corporation does not get its’ $950 million in gaming revenue per year from the occasional gambler who drops the occasional $20 into a machine and walks away with no regret. It is from the parent who dumps an entire pay cheque into a slot machine in less than 20 minutes, in the hopes of ‘winning big’ and returns 2 weeks later to repeat the same vicious cycle, even at the peril of not feeding the family.
Children of problem gamblers are often neglected and emotionally unstable, a dysfunction they will carry into adulthood. Problem gamblers are Dads, Moms, Sisters, Brothers, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and all will hate themselves for giving in to their serious and often silent addiction.
Addicted gamblers are not loud and boisterous about their illness, much the same, as alcoholics don’t announce that they are drunks. They will hide, steal, cheat, lie, undergo drastic personality changes and some will commit suicide when all sense of hope is lost. Crime rates may increase in areas where there are gaming centers and this will inevitably have a negative impact on surrounding businesses.
Provincial government has the number of serious problem gamblers at 4.6% (roughly 150, 000 people) and they spend $23 a year on help for each serious problem gambler; however we do not know the percentage of adults with minor and moderate gambling problems, who might progress to the next higher risk category, making the number of overall problem gamblers much higher?
As a society we all suffer from the negative impacts and social problems that stem from gambling. I ask, how can a game, in which you win little, lose lots and take risks, be classified as entertainment? Where, under the City’s Official Community Plan does gambling fit into healthy entertainment?
In my view, plenty of profit already flows south, with little or no return to our northern communities from our forest industry. We can’t afford to have the provincial government bankrupt our community (economically or morally) under the guise of providing entertainment via a Community Gaming Center.
We need to find sound economic drivers to help us sustain our way of life and recover from the pine beetle disaster. Expanding gambling into downtown Prince George is not the answer.
In my view, converting the Old Safeway building at 4th Ave., and Victoria into a Community Gaming Center will add more loss to our current urban crisis and set the City of Prince George back much further in its attempt to develop an attractive, viable, livable, downtown.
I urge our civic leaders to say NO to expanded gambling in Prince George.
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Posted by: Chadermando on July 24 2005 2:28 PM
If this government is going to pay attention to the residents of this city they have certainly given us no indication that is even a remote possibility. Do our civic leaders pay attention to the residents-or do they merrily carry on with whatever they decide is in "our" best interests?
As the economy worsens, the gamblers will increase. Troubled people will escape reality by sitting at a slot machine, whereby they, and the machine, bond, and the rest of the world is temporarily non existent. All that matters is the next "spin." Until the money runs out!!!!Then reality hits them square in the face, and the real problems they are facing are back with a vengeance. Excuses, tears, violence, hate,lies, escapes-all establish in the make up of the gambler's existence. Life actually becomes lonely, as the new mind set is to live to gamble. The price is so astronomical it is almost impossible to measure at this early stage. It is a self destruct mission-and the governments are glorying in their "new found" goose that lays nothing but golden eggs.
I am surprised the pubs and bars have not joined forces to request "slots" in their establishments. Nor has it been made public the government could be giving consideration to this venture. The pub owners must realize Treasure Cove is reaping huge reqards for being in the gambling business with the government. They know the government has more "slots" to utilize-and let me say-the revenue would go a long way towards paying staff in a pub. Seems odd to me the proprietors of these establishments are not chasing the goose also. The city would also be in line for a piece of the pie. What has been the hold up????
Could it be the old Safeway building is just a ploy to side track us?
I have already stated, Prince George will never be a "destination" city. There is very little to attract people here. Lousy summers and cold snowy winters. Little entertainment
Incidently, it would appear the pine beetle tree removal has only just begun, but the bare patches are really disheartening.
This city is gradually sliding into an abysmal future.
If we are in need of "sound economic drivers," give us an idea of just what they would consist of. We need answers, and not hypothetical responses. Come on-let's have some "good" ideas!!!!!