“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”

I went to buy a $4.00 mini-dip (one ticket with one each of the 649, BC49, & the Extra) yesterday, and was told the price had increased over the weekend and that my regular ticket is now $6.00.

WHAT ... a 50% increase??  Did I just get a clerk that didn't know what she is doing -- or is that indeed what they now cost?  Well it didn't take long for a friend to confirm that:

Looks like they have increased the jackpots so that's why it costs more.  The BC Lottery Corporation website says the jackpot will start at $5 million instead of $3 million, and there will be an additional prize of $1million paid out each draw. Either way, you have a better chance of being struck by lightning!

And indeed, a quick look at the Lotto Corp website does indeed state:
With the new guaranteed $1 million prize and the improved odds, the price of Lotto 6/49 changes to $3 per play from $2. Each $3 play includes a unique number exclusively for the new $1 million prize that is guaranteed to be won each draw. Players are automatically entered into new $1 million prize draw from the tickets sold across Canada

A story in the Globe and Mail a few years ago stated a few comparison on your chances of winning.  You are ... three times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident driving 16 kilometers to buy your ticket than winning the jackpot ... you are about 10 times more likely to die after being bitten by a poisonous snake or lizard than to win a Lotto 6/49 jackpot ... if you want to increase your odds just buy 50 tickets a week. You are very likely to win the jackpot at least once — in 5,000 years.

I don't know if it was just me not paying attention, however I have to say the announcement of increased rates on Lotto 649 tickets seems to have been conspicuously absent.

Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I'm just wondering if BC Liberal government will be taking an even bigger whack of profits into general revenue?  As it is, for the last fiscal year (2012 to 2013), the BC Lottery Corporation sent nearly $1.12 BILLION dollars into the government treasury

I'm sure the non-profits, that have been getting screwed big time in the amounts the were PROMISED by the government when they took over the fundraising they had been doing with soft-gambling, won't be getting anywhere near the 30 odd percent they were once promised (but never received).

A quick look at Mother Lotto Corp shows that while the government took in $1.12 BILLION ... charitable and community organizations received a mere $135 million in gaming grants.

Yes, the BC Liberal government calls them "Gaming Grants" ... however the reality is this was REVENUE for charitable organizations in BC before the government forced them out of soft gambling that community groups and organization had previously done to 'directly' fund the work they did in their communities.

In a Memorandum of Agreement on Gaming Policy dated June 17th, 1999 -- between the Government of British Columbia, and the BC Association for Charitable Gaming -- it clearly stated that ... "the Province reaffirms its commitment the existing charitable guarantee of a minimum of $125 million annually, indexed annually at the Vancouver Consumer Price Index, with a formula that ensures charity entitlement to an amount, after accounting for retained bingo revenues, equal to 1/3rd of ongoing government net community casino revenue." 

 

A quick look at the Canadian Consumer Price Index shows that between 1999 and 2012 there has been an average increase of approximately 2% per year to the consumer price index.  While it is not the Vancouver CPI, using that figure would indicate that charities in BC should in fact be receiving no less than a minimum of $166.55 million per year -- this compared to the $135 million they are receiving.  Government is shorting** BC charities in our own communities by no less than $31 million dollars a year!

 

REMEMBER ... these are LOCAL community groups working to provide help and assistance at the local level ... and with far less operating costs (often times mostly with volunteers) vs. administrative and staff costs of government.

That same Memorandum of Agreement also states that the province will ... "Consult in a meaningful way with charities in the development of gaming policy changes that may affect charities."

Take a bit of time to review information on the BC Association for Charitable Gaming website.  If you do, you'll likely conclude what I did ... the charitable organizations in BC, that once had control of their own fundraising through soft gambling, are NOT receiving what they were promised by the government.

All that aside ... for now at least I'm going to stop buying my Mini-Dip after a 50% increase in the ticket cost.  That is completely absurd.  The jackpots haven't increased by the dollar value of tickets sale increases they will be generating ... which can only mean one thing ... more being funneled into government general revenues, for the BC Lottery Corporation.

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


** From a 2011 news release by the BC Association for Charitable Gaming

“Let’s show that we’re serious about supporting communities and get our priorities straight. Casinos should pay for their own advertising. The taxpayer should not subsidize private enterprise while charities that serve the public are left to starve.”

“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.”

In addition to the Children’s Festival, cuts to gaming grants have affected programs that support brain injury survivors, services to families of the Canadian Armed Forces servicemen and women, support for seniors and youth at risk, as well as transportation of sick children to hospitals and treatment centres across BC.