legality question - Canada

[wintermute]

Last night on the CBC national news, an RCMP spokeperson said that internet gambling was definitely illegal in Canada. This is news to me. He did not quote the relevant statute(s).

Any thoughts anyone?

[scott]

Wintermute, my e-gaming attorney tells me the same thing. I'm taking his word on it , I don't know the statute. Scotty

[Hartley]

Yep - laws state that the only legal forms of gambling in Canada are those that are operated by the provinces or the federal government.

At the same time, most of the provinces also stated that they have no intention of prosecuting their citizens for gambling online or by telephone.

Look at it this way - the fan 590 (www.fan590.com) and many other radio stations in Canada have ads for offshore casinos. The same is true for major newspapers including the Toronto Sun, the Vancouver Sun, the Hamilton Spectator etc.

If the government was really concerned about it or wanted to stop it, would they not approach the media and tell them to stop taking the "illegal" advertising?

[wintermute]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Interesting - I can gamble legally at government run casinos and bingos and lotteries in Canada and I can presumably gamble legally outside the country in Las Vegas, Europe, the Caribbean etc. So there is no moral issue.

I wonder if someone could make a case that when they gamble over the internet, say in Antigua with money in Antigua that they are not gambling in Canada so it's OK.

Why doesn't the government simply sanction sports books as may other countries have done? I certainly don't mind giving the government a piece of the action as long as it isn't totally obscene as is it when you play Canadian sports lotteries.

'mute

[Hartley]

Winterminute fwiw, I've been to the last 2 Rivercitygroup conferences in Montreal last year and Toronto this year. The guy from Ontario this year sure in hell wasn't happy to be there but he also didn't seem interested in going after Ontario residents. If I remember correctly his exact comment was
"If any of you casino or sportsbook operators plan to come up to Ontario to set up shop you'd better have a good lawyer."
But he also avoided the issue of Ontarians gambling offshore.

And last year the Ontario minister (a different guy) was there also and his attitude was a bit different. He stated uncategorically that gambling that is not sanctioned by the governments is absolutely illegal but he also stated that Ontario had absolutely no interest in prosecuting the bettors. They would only consider prosecution against operators that opened shop in Ontario. Same held true for the governments of Quebec, BC and Newfoundland. The only exception was casinos on native reserves since they have separate governments.

[wintermute]

Thanks for the info Hartley

I would imagine it's just a matter of time before North American governments face reality and 'go with the flow'. Just wish it was sooner rather than later.

winterminute :eek:

[neilm]

Hartley,

By saying that the government doesn't plan on prosecuting bettors seems to imply that they whould have a case for doing so. Are you sure that it is an offense in Ontario to place a bet? As far as I know it is an offense to take bets and not an offense to make them.

[Hartley]

Like everywhere it's a gray area.

Having said that I think it's safe to say that Harris needs every vote now, including demented gamblers like us :p

[Dragon]

Hartley, was any mention made at the conferences about the indian reservation up there that hosts a number of gambling sites, including sports interaction?

[Hartley]

Dragon, it was mentioned at the meeting in Montreal. I did a writeup on it for this site.

If you e-mail me to "hartley@bettorsworld.com", I'll send you a copy of that writeup.