As a taxpayer, I understand the windfall tax benefit gaming represents. However, as a citizen, I am deeply concerned by some of the decisions being made in that area and the predictable increase in the number of problem gamblers.
I live in Victoria, and recently there has been an expansion of the casino in View Royal while the bingo hall off Burnside shut down. My wife now plays at the bingo hall in Esquimalt and, with the influx of new players, parking is at a premium and even getting to play has become a challenge.
Where she once spent $30 a night, she now spends $80 due to the attraction of playing cards electronically. What used to be a pleasant night out has become a challenging and expensive exercise.
I have witnessed casinos in Las Vegas removing their Keno rooms. It is a slow game and owners want to push people to the slots and tables where greater profit can be made. I sense the same is happening here in B.C. While opportunities for bingo dwindle, there is a greater push for people to go to the casino or to gamble online.
We are losing a traditional, social, low-key opportunity for the community to come together and replacing it with faster-paced, impersonal, more dangerous gambling experiences.
Rod Horner
Victoria
