The month of February, 2010 launches the first determined attempt to “cannibalize illegal gambling sites” and set back more control to Loto-Quebec. The annual $1.4-billion sum that Loto-Quebec pays the province was called a “marginal” revenue source by Finance Minister Raymond Bachand. Another $50 million a year in public coffers from on-line poker games by 2012 and complete “legalization” of this gambling industry would set “an efficient way of fighting the underground economy”. Bachand compared the situation to the early 70s` when Loto-Quebec became active and “displaced $600 million of organized-crime money”.
According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees 85 per cent of Quebec's poker players gamble at illegal games where there are no age limits, alcohol consumption at the tables is allowed and some tournaments are run by organized crime factions. Still, one of the largest hubs of on-line gambling in the world is located on Montreal's South Shore on the Mohawk reserve, where the Kahnawake Gaming Commission regulates permit holders. Although the commission has been operating for years, it is routinely described as illegal by government authorities. Yet no strict measures are taken and it seems the act of “legalization” is not an attempt to reinstall the law at all but change it in a financial favour. Proven wrong by Bachand who said that “it’s not for monetary reasons. The role of the state is to channel gambling in a responsible manner.” He added that the on-line gambling niche exists and it`s not rational to ignore it.
No matter how rational these explanations are public health authorities see online gambling as a new source of addiction problems. Health directors from across Quebec gathered in downtown Montreal on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 to plead unanimously for a halt in the provincial government’s plans. Richard Lessard, the director of public health in Montreal, said the social impact of online gambling on young adults was not taken into consideration, as the percentage of Quebec students gambling online has already doubled between 2006 and 2008.
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