Pupatello announces sports betting pledge
Masse calls Liberals hypocrites, noting they failed to vote for his bill
It was another day of duelling press conferences with Liberal candidate Sandra Pupatello declaring she intends to get legislation passed to allow single-game sports betting where her NDP rival in Windsor West, Brian Masse, was unable to do so.
“We need to change our laws to allow for single sports betting in order to be more competitive and capture more of the revenue that is currently going offshore or to unregulated or illegal beneficiaries,” Pupatello said.
“The Canadian Gaming Association estimates this would add up to 150 jobs right here in Windsor, perhaps another 100 in Niagara Falls.
“It could result in another 1,000 or 1,500 (jobs) right across the country.
“The revenue for provincial governments would go up by as much as $1 billion.”
With the casino as a backdrop to her media gathering, Pupatello credited former NDP MP Joe Comartin and Masse with getting the ball rolling on the issue.
Masse got a private member’s bill through the House of Commons, but it eventually stalled in the Senate.
“When I lock on to an issue, I get it resolved or I don’t say that I will,” Pupatello said. “I think they (Caesar’s Windsor workers) know that.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had 17 years of an NDP MP (Masse) in this area and even if he’s well intentioned, and he may be, if he’s unable to bring it across the finish line it’s time to get somebody who will.”
A fiery Masse, with former Unifor national president Ken Lewenza at his side, responded hours later accusing Pupatello’s Liberals of hypocrisy having voted down his legislation to legalize single-game sports betting in the last Parliament.
“Trudeau in his sunny ways, it was supposed to be different, collaborative approach, this was one of the first things voted on in Parliament,” Masse said.
“We were supposed to work together, it was the first signs of phoniness about a prime minister that says one thing and does another.
“It’s no different than auto and no different even when it comes to the border. We saw flip-flops.”
Bill C-221 was voted down at second reading before it could get to the committee stage after Masse’s first attempt died in the Senate in 2015. That bill had received unanimous approval in the House of Commons under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper.
An annoyed Masse recounted the history of coming close to getting the bill passed and listed the coalition of support he got, including from many of the major sports leagues, only to see Pupatello trying to usurp the issue.
“The Liberals in Ottawa have had almost a decade to support passing this legislation,” Masse said.
“We were way ahead of the United States with support from the provinces, provincial gaming authorities and chambers of commerce.
“All national sports leagues, with the exception of the National Hockey League, supported the legislative change,” Masse said.
“Now, the Liberal candidate announced the importance of this to our community, preserving jobs and creating new ones?”
Masse accused the Liberals of throwing away an opportunity to gain a competitive edge in the gaming industry by defeating his