{"id":2632,"date":"2024-10-04T16:37:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T16:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/?p=2632"},"modified":"2024-10-09T14:25:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:25:32","slug":"will-british-columbia-follow-ontario-and-albertas-gaming-lead-if-conservatives-win-the-provincial-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/2024\/10\/04\/will-british-columbia-follow-ontario-and-albertas-gaming-lead-if-conservatives-win-the-provincial-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Will British Columbia Follow Ontario and Alberta\u2019s Gaming Lead if Conservatives Win the Provincial Election?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the British Columbia Conservative Party holding a slight edge in polls as the provincial election draws closer, some folks are wondering what the potential impact on the iGaming market in the western Canadian province will be if they pull out a win.<\/p>\n

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The British Columbia provincial flag, The BC conservative party holds a lead among likely voters, according to a new survey. Image: Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The election date is October 19 and, according to the latest Leger survey released on Wednesday, momentum for the Conservatives continues to build. The party holds the top position in voting intention among decided voters for the second week in a row, and at 46%, sits three percentage points ahead of the incumbent BC New Democrat Party.<\/p>\n

The Leger survey was conducted between September 27-30. Thirty-six percent of BC residents believe that things in the province are going in the right direction, while 55% believe that things in the province are on the wrong track.<\/p>\n

Provincial Election Scheduled for October 19<\/h2>\n

That sudden rise in popularity for the Conservatives in a province where the Liberal Party and the farther left New Democrats have been governing since 1991 not only has political observers shaking their heads, but also people in the gaming industry.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you said to anyone five or six months ago that the Conservative Party would be a factor at all they\u2019d be fitting you for a tin foil hat,\u201d said an industry source.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Conservative Party-led Ontario, Canada\u2019s most populous province, introduced an open, regulated iGaming market in April 2022, with 51 operators currently licensed and operating, along with 83 gaming websites, according to iGaming Ontario.<\/p>\n

Conservatives Eyeing Tax Dollars<\/h2>\n

United Conservative Party-led Alberta is quickly moving toward an Ontario-style iGaming regulatory regime, although the timing of when that market goes live is now up in the air. Industry sources tell Casino.org that fall 2025 is a realistic possibility.<\/p>\n

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In BC, the only place where people can gamble legally is on the British Columbia Lottery Corporation\u2019s PlayNow.com platform. Whether that may change under a conservative administration is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe political winds can change very quickly on the back of an election,\u201d said Mark Harper, Head of Emerging Markets, BVGroup. The company\u2019s BetVictor<\/a> brand is licensed and operating in Ontario.<\/p>\n

Premier Eby Showed Support for a Competitive Market<\/h2>\n

\u201cI think if the Conservatives do get in, that\u2019s a very different look. I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be eyeing tax dollars, and I can see there being a swift change in strategy and policy,\u201d said Harper. \u201cObviously, operators are watching that situation very closely, and I can see BC moving very quickly, especially on the back of Alberta.\u201d<\/p>\n

People in the iGaming industry, however, believe changes in the market might still come if the NDP wins. A senior industry source told Casino.org<\/em> that Premier David Eby, when he was Attorney General of the province, was \u201cvery supportive\u201d of \u201cmajor changes\u201d to their gambling industry.<\/p>\n

Learning Curve Would Delay the Process<\/h2>\n

\u201c[Eby] wanted more of an Ontario-style regulatory regime,\u201d he said. \u201cHe wanted it moved out into an arm\u2019s length independent agency, like the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).\u201d<\/p>\n

When Eby took over as premier in 2022, priorities changed, the source added. And if Eby and the NDP win, he still might not survive as Premier since they would have squeaked out a win after dominating provincial politics for decades.<\/p>\n

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If the Conservatives win many of the people that were influential [in the iGaming process going on in Alberta] are also very active in the B.C. campaign [for the Conservatives],\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAt least some of those people understand what\u2019s going on in the Alberta development towards a regulatory regime for online gaming. They\u2019ve seen how much you get, here\u2019s how you structure the model, here\u2019s what you do. And there\u2019s gold in those hills. You must put some framework around how you\u2019re going to regulate this,<\/strong><\/em>\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

The appetite in B.C. to take the market down this new path is there, the source said, adding it would take time, since there would be alearning curve wit a new government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf these guys get a majority, they will start moving down this path,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reality is some of this work has already happened since the regulator in B.C. has a strong relationship with the regulator in Ontario. Those back channel conversations have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns: iGaming is Rarely a Government Priority<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be interesting to watch [B.C.] unfold,\u201d said Paul Burns, President and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA). \u201cProvincial governments across the country through the lottery industry by and large have built a strong gaming industry rooted in a strong commitment to responsible gaming. But monopolies have gone away, and the need for consumer protection needs to extend beyond their own enterprises.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Ontario\u2019s policy] was built on consumer protection, consumer choice, channelizing the grey market to a regulated market and it\u2019s been wildly successful. That didn\u2019t happen quickly. But this is going to continue to grow,\u201d said Burns.<\/p>\n

When he met Premier Eby, Burns said the Premier understood the need for an open, regulated market from a consumer protection point of view. He was supportive of changing laws around sports betting. But the realities of governing a province soon set in.<\/p>\n

And what I\u2019ve learned, gaming is never in the Top 10, and if it is, it\u2019s not for good reasons,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will talk to any government encouraging the same thing. You can\u2019t do nothing. You have a lot of choices. You could look at what Ontario is doing [or do something else]. But we\u2019re here to help you because we believe regulated markets better protect people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casino.org reached out to the BC Conservative Party for a comment but we haven\u2019t heard back as yet.<\/p>\n

The post Will British Columbia Follow Ontario and Alberta\u2019s Gaming Lead if Conservatives Win the Provincial Election?<\/a> appeared first on Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the British Columbia Conservative Party holding a slight edge in polls as the provincial election draws closer, some folks are wondering what the potential impact on the iGaming market in the western Canadian province will be if they pull out a win. The British Columbia provincial flag, The BC conservative party holds a lead…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2633,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2632\/revisions\/2633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}