It makes no sense to slash problem gambling programs just as the government takes another huge leap into expanded betting. For most British Columbians, gambling is a relatively harmless way to lose money -- a tax on gullibility or desperation, but not one so punitive that it sinks lives into disaster.
But for many, gambling becomes destructive. Some 157,000 people in the province are problem gamblers, according to a government study released last year. About 30,000 are severe problem gamblers. That group more than doubled in the five years since the last survey.
That's not surprising. Gambling addiction and problems increase with the number of gamblers and with increased opportunity.
The Liberals -- despite a 2001 campaign commitment to halt gambling expansion -- have been on a betting binge. The number of slot machines and VLTs has quadrupled; mini-casinos have been placed in smaller communities; online gamblers can now lose more than $500,000 a year; and B.C. is becoming the first jurisdiction in North America to allow legal online betting on casino games.
The government's plan for B.C. Lotteries has included annual targets for increasing the number of British Columbians who gamble regularly.
Yet this year the government dramatically cut funding for the Responsible Gambling Strategy and the Problem Gambling Program by 34 per cent. Last year, the programs received $7 million. This year, the budget has been reduced by $2.4 million. Rich Coleman, the minister for Housing and Social Development, has not explained what services will be cut, asserting only that "core services" will be protected.
But the cuts take funding levels back roughly to where they were five years ago, despite inflation, population growth and the wild expansion of gambling.
And they come as demand for help soars. The study reported that calls to the province's toll-free gambling help line almost tripled between 2002 and 2006, when 90 people a week were calling to seek assistance.
That is in part because awareness of problem gambling efforts have increased. Almost two-thirds of British Columbians were aware of the help line, up significantly in five years. But awareness is still spotty. Less than half of those surveyed knew the government provided free problem-gambling counselling, for example.
And the problems will continue to increase, in large part because of government decisions. The Liberals decided, for example, to change the regulations to allow people to drink while they gambled, resulting in their losing more. The survey found the number of people using alcohol or other drugs while gambling has jumped 50 per cent since the last survey; the number who gambled while drunk or high has almost doubled.
Coleman should restore the funding until he can explain exactly what will be cut and what plans are for dealing with the inevitable increase in problem gambling, particularly from Internet betting.
And the government should recognize Coleman's conflict of interest. He is the minister responsible both for promoting gambling and increasing profits, and for reducing problem gambling.
The two goals are not compatible. Problem gamblers are good for business. B.C. Lotteries' goal is to take an average $740 from each customer this year.
But many people who buy a few lottery tickets each month will lose a small fraction of that amount. It takes big losers to reach that kind of average loss. And problem gamblers are big losers.
The Liberals have acknowledged that expanded gambling means more addiction and problems for individuals and families. That, in the words of cabinet minister Kevin Krueger, it has increased divorce, crime and deaths.
That makes these cuts to problem-gambling programs both pragmatically and morally indefensible.
