Now Alberta Canada Moves Towards Online Gambling
Written by Renee K | Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
It was only a matter of time that all Canadian provinces jumped on the internet gambling bandwagon in a bid to grab some of the revenue generated by this lucrative industry. The latest province to announce its ‘interest’ in online gambling is Alberta, which said that the idea has actually been under revenue for some time among officials.
“We’ve definitely been researching and monitoring online gaming for a number of years,” said a spokeswoman for the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, Lynn Hutchings-Mah.
“Gaming does generate revenue,” she said.
Alberta has good reason to move in the direction of online gambling.
For one, revenue from traditional sources has gradually decreased over the years, and numbers show that a drop of 15% has been recorded overall.
In addition, other provinces are going full steam ahead with the idea and some have already introduced some form of internet gambling. Quebec is expected to introduce online gaming sites next month already, while British Columbia and the Maritime Provinces have already got theirs up and running.
It was only last week that the Finance Minster for Ontario, Dwight Duncan said that his province would be offering internet gambling by 2012.
However, it is not expected that the introduction of internet gambling in Alberta will be without its hitches. Community groups have already expressed their concern that they will not get a fair cut of the revenues if online gambling becomes a reality.
“You can bet that if the province made decisions with respect to online gaming that would decrease revenue, then they’re in trouble with the not for profit sector,” said a spokesperson for the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
