Alberta NDP lawmakers have expressed concerns about the lack of detail in the province’s proposed privatized online gambling law, Bill 48. Discussion of the proposal began in the Alberta legislature last week.
Minister Dale Nally‘s bill, dubbed the “iGaming Alberta Act,” would establish Alberta iGaming Corporation to oversee the new commercial market, much like iGaming Ontario. The legislation also puts Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis in charge of regulation and the continued operation of its Play Alberta online platform. For now, Play Alberta is the province’s only legal option for online casino and sports betting action.
Nally presented Bill 48 for its second reading on April 9 after its March 26 introduction.
As Nally relayed on Wednesday, the government’s goal in regulating online gambling is not to encourage more gamblers or gambling. Instead, the intent is to shift play that’s already happening to safer platforms with government oversight.
Said Nally:
I want to make clear that this bill isn’t about opening a new revenue source for the government. It isn’t a cash grab, and we’re not looking to create new gamblers in Alberta. If you don’t gamble today, please don’t start tomorrow. That is not the purpose of this. We know gambling will never be safe, but there are ways to make it safer and more responsible. That’s what we aim to do.
However, while they lauded the bill’s intent, NDP MPs raised concerns about its lack of specifics.
MLA Gurinder Brar called Bill 48’s scant detail a “glaring omission” that leaves stakeholders “in the dark about how the Alberta iGaming Corporation will operate.”
While the intentions seem noble, the execution leaves much to be desired.
UCP focuses on the need for safeguards
During the debate, two of Nally’s United Conservative Party (UCP) peers supported the bill, focusing on the legislation’s benefits.
MLA Nolan Dyck spoke about the government’s responsibility to provide a “thoughtful market that is not predatory or lacking safeguards.”
Many unregulated iGaming companies already operate in Alberta, regardless of whether we regulate them or not, and those illicit iGaming companies are not paying taxes here or putting money back into our economy… We want to be able to regulate the good operators and allow them to play in a space that is legal, while also making sure that they follow our social responsibility markers there.
Following that, MLA Justin Wright noted Bill 48 would give Albertans greater and safer choices while raising funds for infrastructure and programs for at-risk and problem gambling.
The bill’s proponents lauded the scant specifics the bill does provide, like the province-wide centralized self-exclusion system, and said other key policies would follow later.
NDP says UCP’s ‘blank cheque’ approach too risky
However, Brar and his NDP MLA colleague Peggy Wright said that’s not good enough.
Brar said that without specifics, implementation will inevitably lead to problems. As it is, the bill “merely enables the creation of standards and regulations,” he added.
This approach is just like buying a car without knowing if it has brakes or a steering wheel; it’s bound to lead to a crash.
Wright said she appreciated the need for online gambling regulation but questioned whether the UCP could be trusted to act appropriately.
Said Wright:
Given past history, I’m not sure that we can trust that an appropriate level of consultation before regulations are released happens … It’s a blank cheque and that can indeed lead to some measure of risk, if not danger.
On Wednesday, MLA Dyck adjourned the debate around Bill 48. Ostensibly, it will resume before the legislative session wraps later this spring.
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