ALC documents urged launch of iCasino during pandemic
Documents obtained by the Third Party Liberals suggest the Atlantic Lottery Corporation saw an opportunity to take advantage of the social isolation of the pandemic in order to launch online gaming platforms in P.E.I. and throughout the region.
On Thursday, members of the Liberal Third Party tabled documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests showing enthusiasm by ALC officials for launching the iCasino platforms last spring and summer. Online gambling, with some exceptions, is currently not legally regulated in P.E.I. Despite
this, it is well known that Islanders often gamble using international, unregulated sites such as Spin Casino and Royal Panda.
New Brunswick became the first Atlantic Canadian province to allow online casinos in the summer. Most other provinces in Canada currently allow online casinos.
During question period, Liberal MLA Heath MacDonald suggested allowing these regulated gaming sites could cause harm to Islanders, including those who have a gambling addiction. He quoted an email sent in July 2020 from former ALC CEO Chris Keevill.
“He talks about the secretive pandemic launch of a home gambling program in New Brunswick,” MacDonald said.
“In fact, he mentions the heroic efforts of ALC to start the home gambling program and finishes his email with the following sentence: ‘This is big.’ ”
MacDonald asked Finance Minister Darlene if she shared the enthusiasm of Keevill.
“It’s something that 90 per cent of Canadians have the ability to do, is to access regulated gaming in their province, and it’s something that we, as Prince Edward Islanders right now, are looking at as well,” Compton said.
Compton has argued that it is better for P.E.I. gamblers to use regulated, safer ALC gaming sites as opposed to offshore, unregulated sites. Compton has also said that a portion of gambling profits received by the P.E.I. government from the ALC fund social programs, including those for individuals who have a gambling addiction.
But a briefing document prepared by ALC on April 3, 2020, also said unregulated gambling threatened its own gaming revenue. The document noted that the pandemic resulted in increasing online gambling from Atlantic Canadians.
“AL estimates the potential loss of net profit to its shareholders to be approximately $2 billion over the next 10 years, due to leakage of players choosing illegal in-market offerings,” read the briefing document, marked Covid-19 crisis response.
Another document, dated April 23, 2020, projected the P.E.I. government’s net profit over seven years would amount to $12.4 million.
“Opportunity will diminish if launch is post-COVID,” said the document.
Despite this business case, Compton initially declined the launch of online gaming in April of 2020.
But by December of 2020, cabinet had authorized the P.E.I. Lotteries Commission to develop and manage an online gaming platform.
On Thursday, during question period, Compton pledged all profits the province obtained from the venture would be put toward social programs.
“I will commit to the house today that any revenue from online gaming will go back into mental health and addictions,” Compton said.
In an interview after question period, Liberal MLA Robert Henderson said the document trail from ALC indicated that revenue generation was the driving force, rather than social responsibility, for online gambling.