Government has ripped off million$ that should have gone to community charities ---on Wednesday Christy verbalized they plan to continue

A report entitled “Charitable gaming in revenue” in Alberta shows gaming revenues received paid to charities in that province, amounted to $325 million for 2009 / 2010

Meantime, in BC? 

A portion of a news release, entitled “Government receives independent report “ on the BC government newsroom website from October 31, 2011 states:
“… Premier Christy Clark appointed Triplett to conduct an independent review and develop options for the Province on how to improve the governance and funding formula for gaming grants. In 2010-11, government distributed $135 million - including an additional one-time increase of $15 million - in these grants to approximately 6,000 groups throughout British Columbia.”

The quick study notes for above are:

Alberta gives … $325 million

BC currently gives … $135 million* 

* in 1998 /99, approximately $161 million was distributed to charitable organizations.

There are MANY people who do NOT agree with me … but I have a hard time with government being in the gaming business.  I have issue with the heavy advertising campaigns that work to have people spend more and more money, on something that offers little or no return of anything tangible.  

The millions and millions that go into lotteries and casinos annually, means less money being spent in the greater economy with people buying and purchasing things for the home, family, on recreation, on vehicles, etc.   

These are things that truly grow the economy – and that create jobs.

But here’s another issue I have; big casinos ended most small-time fund raising by local charities and organizations.  Local groups and organizations of course are closest to the community – and know the needs of the community.  Instead they now end up begging for a miniscule share of the amount the provincial government returns to charities and organizations from gaming revenues they receive.

WORSE STILL … government is not paying up what they promised.  That was to be ONE THIRD of the revenues received.

Here is part of a BC Association for Gaming media release, from June of this year, headlined, “Premier Clark: Do You Really Put Families First?” :
“The expansion of gambling in BC has only hurt the non-profit sector. The greater the BC Lottery Corporation revenue, the worse it gets for charities,” says Susan Marsden, president of the BC Association for Charitable Gaming. “The situation is now extreme. Gambling revenues are at historic highs, while almost 1500 BC charities are on the brink of closing their doors. We are more concerned now that this year’s budget calls for even further cuts to gaming grants.” Lindsay Brown, co-founder of the Vancouver Not Vegas coalition, agrees. “The public was assured that if gambling were expanded, significant revenues would be directed to the charities and non-profits that serve communities. That promise was broken and now families and communities are taking the hit.”

The fact government gaming has been hurting local charities and organizations is nothing new.

It is the direct result of the provincial government NOT holding up its end of an agreement they made on June 17, 1999 … and which the Meekison Report of 2000 treated as “foundational and binding on the BC government”.  Charities / community organizations were to receive 33.3% of net gaming revenues of community casinos.   Page #25 of the  Meekison Report states:

Under the memorandum of agreement with the BC Association for Charitable Gaming and the Bingo Council of British Columbia, the province ,

Reaffirms its commitment to the existing charitable guarantee of a minimum $125 million annually, indexed annually at the Vancouver CPI, with a formula that ensures charity entitlement to an amount, after accounting for retained bingo revenues, equal to 1/3^rd of ongoing net community casino gaming revenue.

This provision is a reminder that the existing (non-destination) casinos were initially charity casinos and ties bingo revenue to casino revenues.  The pressure on the province to continue this level of funding is considerable.

In November 2010, Eliza Olson (Director, B.C. Association for Charitable Gaming) stated the following in a letter to the Delta Optimist

In 1995, based on a Vancouver staff report on the White Paper on gaming, charities received $131 million (35% of the net) and in 2010 (per BC Lottery Corporation Annual Report) charities received $112.5M (10.42% of the net). The $120 million for 2011 does not come up to the agreed 33.3% in 1999.

In spite of a 292% increase in annual gaming revenue over 1995, the BC government shocked the entire charitable sector in 2009 by unilaterally cutting the share allocated to charities by tens of millions of dollars to $112.5 million or $18.5 million below the 1995 levels (not adjusted for inflation) in 2009.

In 1995 charities received 35% of gaming proceeds. In 1999 when they signed the MoA they were guaranteed 33.3% as a permanent share. The current BC government has stripped this to 10.43% of the proceeds.

The bottom line is the BC Government is reneging on its legal agreement with BC Charities and forcing them to either close or drastically cut their services to BC communities all over the province including Delta.

Eliza Olson further stated, “The BC Government owes BC charities $1,279,566,670.00 in accrued arrears, not including interest.”

Based on agreements they made, the provincial government has misappropriated one and a quarter BILLION DOLLARS from BC charities.

Christy Clark is saying that charity money is being increased, but the title of a Vancouver Sun opinion piece says it all … “The government’s sleight of hand doesn’t fool charities”

At Wednesday’s event, Clark announced that all those charities and non-profits that had been stripped of their eligibility would now once again be eligible, and would be able to reapply for funding.  But the last time those charities had been eligible, the funding level had been $156 million, not $135 million.

And there had been 6,800 charities receiving funds, not 5,300.  So, if those formerly ineligible charities apply for funding, there will be that many more charities — as many as 1,500 more — fighting over a much smaller pie.  Once again, the math isn’t pretty.

The government, even with a renewed commitment for funding of $135 million for the next 3 years, is still far short of what they agreed to pay when they went into gambling in a big way.

Given documents and agreements, going back over a dozen years, there is just one conclusion we can make; government has ripped off million$ and million$ of dollar$ that should have gone to community charities.   

On Wednesday Christy Clark, and the BC Liberal government, simply verbalized they plan to continue doing so.  SHAME! 

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.