Union slams $500,000 BCLC info search fee
A union that requested B.C. Lottery Corporation records concerning anti-money laundering compliance at casinos, including River Rock in Richmond, is prepared to challenge a “prohibitively high” $500,000 search fee.
Unite Here, the union that made the request under B.C.’s freedomof-information laws, represents casino workers across North America.
A document obtained by Postmedia News shows that Unite Here’s Marc Hollin requested from BCLC “copies of all correspondence, reports, investigations, audits and complaints regarding anti-money laundering compliance of Great Canadian Gaming Corporation locations,” including River Rock Casino, Casino Nanaimo, Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam and Hastings Park Casino.
Hollin requested records from November 2012 to November 2017, including all correspondence between Great Canadian Gaming, the BCLC and B.C.’s gaming policy enforcement branch, regarding anti-money laundering compliance.
A Dec. 6 response from the BCLC says that freedom-of-information law allows a public body to “charge a fee for certain limited costs of providing the requested information.”
The estimated cost for Unite Here’s request was $504,510.
The estimate included 16,817 hours of document searching at a cost of $30 per hour.
“In order to proceed with your request, BCLC requires a $252,240 deposit,” the response states.
“I was absolutely flabbergasted,” Hollin, a researcher with Unite Here, told Postmedia.
“My first instinct was this is prohibitively high, and I felt like it was a deterrent to accessing information.”
Hollin said that in Ontario, where Great Canadian Gaming was awarded contracts to expand casino operations at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack and other locations last year, the union is attempting to work with the company to establish community benefits, including good local jobs, that could offset any potential negatives associated with casino developments.
Ontario’s opposition has called on the government to put the expansion deal with Great Canadian on hold while an independent review of money laundering concerns in B.C. casinos is completed.
Hollin said Unite Here has been following reports by Postmedia on allegations of international organized crime networks using B.C. casinos to launder money, and that is why the union is attempting to gain more information from the BCLC.
“We want the public to have as much information as possible because this is such an important issue, and there is so much public money at stake that goes to the provincial government (from casinos),” Hollin said.
“We feel we have a right to know as much as we can, in the interest of transparency and accountability.”
Unite Here has asked the BCLC to completely waive the $504,510 search fee, citing the public’s interest and current debates surrounding casino expansion plans in Ontario. If the fee isn’t waived, Hollin said Unite Here will appeal to B.C.’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
Great Canadian’s chief operating officer Terrance Doyle told Postmedia in a statement that he was not aware of the request from Unite Here.