Canadian Parliament to discuss new bipartisan sports betting bill

Canadian MP Brian Masse is once again hopeful to get single-event sports betting legalized by Parliament in Ottawa. 

Masse announced on Tuesday he has co-sponsored a new sports betting bill with Conservative MP Kevin Waugh that will likely be debated in the House within a couple of weeks followed by a vote.

Given that an increasing number of U.S. states, including Michigan, in the past year have sanctioned allowing gamblers an ability to place a wager on any single game, the stakes have grown higher since a majority of federal MPs shot down Masse’s private member’s sports betting bill a couple of years ago.

“You now have bipartisan Conservative and NDP members co-sponsoring a bill,” Masse said, as reported by Windsor Star. “This will be another opportunity for the prime minister to do something on this. Kevin Waugh and I will be working with and lobbying members from all parties to finally get this done.

“(Liberal MPs) danced around on this during (last October’s) election on whether they support this. Now the music has run out, this is going to be debated and voted on within a few weeks and they will have to make a decision.”

Windsor has much at stake on whether single-event sport betting gets legalized, given how Caesars Windsor stands to lose customers to Detroit’s three casinos where sports betting is poised within weeks to be legally offered.

“We are going to lose market share to the U.S.,” Masse said. “(A few years ago) we were hoping to attract U.S. customers (by being first with sports betting), but now the fight is to retain customers. This is critical for our community. People who work at our casino do a great job, but they need this product to compete.”

Given the importance of retaining jobs at the casino, Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy was in Ottawa on Tuesday to help promote the need for legal single-event sport betting. “This file is a decade old,” he said. “I’m glad we are taking another stab at it. We seem to have a couple (government) parties on board now with this, so I’m hoping to get this done.”

“It’s no secret Michigan has passed this and the facts are they are already moving forward. I know Motor City Casino (in Detroit) is putting a lot of money into this and the other casinos are going to do the same. People need to understand what this means to the economy. We are talking what could be 100 to 150 new jobs (in Windsor) with this. This is a $10-billion to $15-billion industry whether (betting) off-shore or on phones,” Cassidy added.

Waugh, first elected in 2015, is a former longtime television sports broadcaster in Saskatoon and on Tuesday noted how social programs across the country can benefit from sports betting revenues — instead of off-shore companies or illegal bookmakers. “Every year black market bookmakers and offshore gambling sites generate over $14 billion in illegal revenues, none of which is regulated, taxed or invested back into Canadian communities,” Waugh said.

“Instead of lining the pockets of gangs and criminals, simple legislation can regulate sports wagering as a tool for governments to drive positive investment in their communities. I am hopeful that all members will support this common-sense change,” he added.

Should a majority of MPs vote in favour of Waugh’s Private Members Bill — The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act — it would next move to the justice committee for further debate and fine tuning before being returned to the House.

“It’s an ongoing saga,” Masse said. “But we are just going to keep at it. This is a new opportunity for us since it’s being done in a bipartisan way.”

Furthermore, The Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) said Tuesday it fully supports the introduction of the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act.

In a news release, it argued that Canada has had legal sports wagering for decades however presently, Canadians can only place wagers through a parlay bet, which means betting on and correctly predicting the outcome of at least two or more games in order to win their bet.

Canadians are wagering approximately $10 billion annually through illegal bookmaking operations in Canada, usually operated by organized crime, the CGA said. Additionally, more than $4 billion is wagered through offshore online sports wagering sites. Currently, only $500 million is wagered through legal provincial sports lottery products offered to Canadians, which means many people are betting through illegal and often dangerous means.

“Amending the Criminal Code to legalize single-event sports wagering will provide provinces with the necessary tools to deliver a safe and legal option to Canadians,” said Paul Burns, CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, “as well as the power to address important issues such as consumer protection while enabling economic benefits to flow to licensed gaming operators, communities and provincial governments.”

An amendment to permit single-event sports wagering has had almost unanimous endorsement from provincial governments across Canada, as well as support from organized labour through Unifor and the Canadian Labour Congress; business organizations such as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce; sports organizations such as Soccer Canada and the International Olympic Committee; law enforcement; dozens of mayors and community leaders across Canada; and most recently, Canadian and North American professional sports leagues such as the CFL, NBA, and NHL.

“This amendment will allow us to safeguard the $17.1-billion economic contribution that gaming makes to Canada as well as the 182,500 jobs that support not only individuals but communities,” added Burns. “We look forward to working with all political parties to make single-event sports wagering a reality.”