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Ahhh, Canada. The home of Mounties. Great comedy. Canadian bacon. Don’t call Canada the 51st state (they hate that). DO call it the up-and-coming locale in the online casino world. This just in: the British Columbia Lotteries Commission (BCLC), the primary provider of casino games and gambling in the region, has just announced plans to provide online gambling starting in 2010. Not only will this be the first online gambling run by the government in Canada, it’s the first of its kind in North America. Take that, United States!
What will the commission regulate exactly? Everything from sports betting, the lottery, horseracing, and of course, all the casino games you can think of: online blackjack, poker, the works. And to fulfill its government role of caretaker of its citizens, the BCLC will even be introducing advertising promoting responsible gaming. Awww….
If you’re wondering where this came from, it wasn’t just out of the blue (or Vancouver). According to commission President Michael Graydon, the region loses millions of tax dollars to offshore sites who run their own online casino sites. With its citizens wagering around $87 million, that’s a lot of money, especially in a territory with just over four million people. Graydon speculates that his citizens would rather spend their money with commission-regulated sites, not only out of loyalty, but out of trust.
With the BCLC maintaining a monopoly over online gambling in the region, there is no telling if it will support independent online casinos which attempt to compete with the commission. It is thought however that competition would help the BCLC, not hurt it.
And if it means we might see an SCTV online casino in the future, bring it on. John Candy dealing blackjack? I can’t wait.