Gaming Union Targets Ontario Online Casinos and Strictly Opposes Them

t can seem like gaming unions all around the world are starting to target online casinos and attempt to dismantle them. As avid gamers, it’s important that we stay up to date with this news and do what we can to support the industry and not hinder its progression.

There are Canadian officials in the province of Ontario that are working to bring online casinos into the regions lottery gambling system by the end of 2012. However, gaining unions are fighting hard and attempting to rework the plan so that it can’t happen. There are over 7000 gaming employees that are land-based in Ontario that have join together as Representatives of Canadian auto workers. They are saying that the concept to bring online casino gambling to the lottery gambling system would put players that have a real problem with gambling in harms way.

A statement released by Pres. Ken Lewenza said: “Internet gaming facilitates serious gambling addictions wherein participants can spend thousands of dollars without ever leaving their homes or coming into contact with another human being.” These comments were released despite the fact that Internet officials have stated many times over that through the use of online technology, they can make online casinos just as secure and protected against addictive gambling behaviors as any local casino could be.

Reportedly, the Ontario lottery and gaming Corporation released numbers around the amount of annual money that Canadian citizens provide to foreign Internet casino owners. All of this money is untaxed and amounts to a whopping $1 billion. If they were to bring online gambling to the region, government officials say they could make as much as $100 million a year within just the first five years of operating. This would be a substantial amount of tax dollars that are being paid by citizens of Canada, all because online gambling became available in the region.

We can see this happening in other parts of the world, Atlantic provinces and British Columbia have already begun moving online casinos into their lottery systems. These provinces are even looking toward investing in their own online gambling websites, because their efforts have been so successful and profitable for the area.

However, CAW leaders are saying that the loss of jobs that could occur in the region is an issue. Even though online jobs would increase, local availability for jobs would decrease and this seems to pose a concern. Even though bringing online gambling sites into the lottery system would improve general welfare of the public because so much revenue was being brought into the system, lobbyists against the system are doing everything they can to prevent it from happening.

Lewenza stated: “It could lead to a loss of jobs at a time when the province cannot afford it. This should also be taken into account.”

While Ontario is facing this huge deficit in their budget, the future of online gambling is certain, it is expected to continue growing and rise for the years ahead. While an investment into online gambling seems like a profitable venture for the government, it seems that we are still a long way away.