Giant step in the wrong direction
Peter Bevan-Baker’s eloquent, measured comments (Problem Gambling, February 12) on P.E.I.’s potential foray into online gambling are right on the money, so to speak. That a government seemingly concerned with the welfare of its population would contemplate a mechanism that encourages and almost guarantees economic jeopardy seems counterintuitive at best and exploitative at worst.
Fixing the tax system would be a better use of government resources than adding a new diversion designed to relieve Islanders of more of their money. And it’s not a local problem. For some time now, with the support of governments worldwide, revenue and taxes on gambling have become vital to budgets beset by declining tax revenue. The decline in tax revenue stems primarily from corporate subsidies, loopholes, and bailouts for those big earners who should normally pay their fair share but have managed to game the system. As a result, the burden falls on the economically disadvantaged under the guise of gambling entertainment. This stealth tax covers the taxes the rich and corporations no longer pay.
In the United states, for example, the poorest third of households buy half of all lotto tickets. The payout to the occasional big jackpot winner is easily absorbed through the amount of money lost to gambling. In 2016, Americans lost $116.9 billion gambling. Opportunities to gamble can be found in casinos, card rooms, race tracks and gambling devices in bars, airports, gas stations and even convenience stores. Illegal betting on sports rakes in an estimated $400 billion a year, and $70 billion is spent on lottery tickets. In the words of Chris Hedges, “The engineers of America’s gambling system are as skillful at forming addictions as the country’s top five opiod producers ... Slot machines, which account for 85 per cent of all gambling revenue, replicate the effects of pharmacological opiates.”
Putting these gambling “opportunities” in front of every computer on P.E.I. by creating an online system does nothing to solve the problems the Island faces. How can a government preach about the need to “buy local” while promoting the disposal of often limited income through online gambling? On a much larger scale, casinos in Atlantic City, NJ., drove 200 restaurants out of business. Hedge fund operators (see Carl Icahn) plundered what was left in Atlantic City, slashing wages, reducing benefits and profiting outside investors in the name of “shareholder activism.” Islanders could easily contribute to such a decline in the same way, albeit on a smaller scale, in the comfort of their own home or at the office, by spending their money online instead of at P.E.I. businesses.
P.E.I. is not New Jersey, and Canada is not the United States, but we are vulnerable to the same temptations. Since gambling has great potential to be an addiction and, like games on computers and phones, caters to the need to escape debt, boredom, dead-end jobs and a dysfunctional political system, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s online casino initiative, especially at this stressful time, when so many are at home or out of work, is a giant step in the wrong direction. It will lead to more debt, anxiety, and even suicides; in short, nothing good for P.E.I. short- and long-term. That the government’s decision came without debate or consultation seems to be part of the pattern these days, a pattern that must be broken. As Peter Bevan-Baker says, there is still time to reverse the decision and represent Islanders by acting responsibly instead of in the interests of corporations. We are looking at the tip of a very large iceberg.