Ontario Canada Next Province to Offer Web Gambling

The Government of Ontario, Canada one of the most populated provinces in the country has hired a new director for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming corporation. Paul Godfrey, is president and CEO of the National Post newspaper, was the former chair of Metro Toronto, and former head of the Toronto Blue Jays and now head of the OLG. The Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, is considering allowing Internet gambling in Ontario. Since Quebec, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia, have made a partnership to offer online gambling, Ontario feels it must join the group or loose out to possible tax revenues generated by the activity. Godfrey has announced that he would like to explore the possibility of offering online gambling. McGuinty says Ontario would have to make a decision on the subject sooner or later and was pleased it was sooner because the government does not have to ability to control online gambling the same way as it does alcohol. While most believe this issue will not be an easy sell in Ontario's legislature and will take some time to get used too, Godfrey, believes that online gambling would be profitable for the OLG. Canadians spend millions of dollars with online gambling operators based elsewhere and he thinks that the OLG could definitely profit from the industry. “Money is going out of this province to other provinces as well as offshore sites,” Mr. Godfrey explained. The Opposition in the legislature says the government would need to make sure there are controls in place to restrict the age of those playing and make it secure and safe and fair. Online casinos are already operational across the country, but they are regulated by private commissions such as Kahnawake in the Mohawk Nation near Montreal. The provincial governments of Canada are getting into online gambling because it's the only way they can control it. People are playing at the web sites already so why not let the local governments have a piece of the pie.