Gamblor’s World

Vancouver Sun, March 31, 2009

from http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Toddler+being+left+freezing+outside+casino+rare/1446492/story.html

A case where a toddler was left in his carseat in a locked car for six hours in sub-zero temperatures Sunday night while his father was inside a casino is disturbing but, sadly, not that rare, police say. Police said they responded to a call to the Silver Dollar Casino just after midnight Monday morning after a patron noticed a child crying in a car. Officers said they arrived to find the car, windows covered with blankets. with a toddler inside. The 21-month-old boy, according to police, was very lightly dressed, with no shoes or socks.

I am very sad to read this news - that the Squamish Nation is going to partner with Boardwalk Gaming to open a ‘community gaming centre’ with 150 slot machines, all sanctioned and promoted by the British Columbia Lottery Corp. It is very disappointing to read about this in The Globe and Mail as Squamish was successful in fighting such a ‘community gaming centre’ proposal by Boardwalk a few years back. It would seem that Boardwalk is very savvy, now partnering with a First Nations group and promoting a ‘community gaming centre’ under the rubric of First Nations community economic development. OY!

The Squamish First Nation in BC is one of the richest First Nations … what a public relations coup for Boardwalk. Anyone who has lived in Squamish knows that it is a community in transition, has a big drug and alcohol problem already with a shortage of available services …. and problem gambling from availability and accessibility of slots is going to be added as an additional strain on this community? Already, anyone in the Squamish area with a gambling problem has difficulty in getting help through the British Columbia Problem Gambling services - just try calling the BC Problem Gambling Help-line and saying you are in Squamish and need help. Get yourself into Vancouver, Family Services, if you want help is what you are going to hear. Hello people in Squamish, especially the Squamish Nation! Are you really thinking of the long-term hardship that having a community gaming centre with 150 slot machines is going to bring to the Squamish community or just looking at a short-term economic fix?

Author:
Source: IGamingBusiness.com
Published Date: Dec 14, 2007

Description:
The new 10,000 square foot Starlight Casino has opened featuring 850 slot machines, 45 gaming tables, a poker room and 1,000-seat, interactive sports bar. A joint project of Gateway Casinos And Entertainment Inc and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), the venue is located near Vancouver and also features a private gaming room, a 450-seat restaurant and an intimate show lounge that is to feature live local entertainment. “BCLC’s vision is to have better gaming facilities with all the amenities that our players are looking for, from the newest in gaming machines to full-service restaurants and the finest in show lounge entertainment,” said Darryl Schiewe, Vice-President of Casino Gaming for the BCLC.

Body of Tsawwassen’s Bill Dobbs dumped roadside

Ian Austin, The Province, Tuesday, December 04, 2007

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=6e08610f-6131-4c55-9130-a909624266bf

Tributes are pouring in for Bill Dobbs, the Tsawwassen businessman found murdered in Indio, Calif.

“He was a loving guy,” said Andy Peltonen, general manager of Dobbs’ successful commercial cleaning and maintenance firm, Excelsior Building Maintenance. “He had a passion for life, and a passion for his family and friends.”

Dobbs’ battered body was found beside a road last week, and investigators have been searching for his black 1999 Cadillac Escalade with B.C. licence plates.

The Palm Springs area is a playground for the rich, and Indio is home to two large casinos. Tales of carjackings are not uncommon in the area. Dobbs had a vacation home in Palm Springs, and was scheduled to return home to Vancouver last weekend.

Times Colonist, Tuesday, October 30, 2007

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=b40ee291-a70d-4a41-a989-44bb9ac31cc9

“The report that pathological gamblers are almost four times more likely than the average Canadian to try to kill themselves is
just the latest piece of evidence that the province has no business in the gaming industry.

It should also press Canadians into demanding government end its aggressive promotion of lotteries and casinos outright. No
amount of “easy” revenue is worth Canadians’ lives.

Anti-gambling and safety advocates have long warned that problem gambling can lead to suicide. The study just published by the
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry is based on a nationwide survey of 36,000 Canadians, and found a strong connection between
compulsive betting and self-harm.” continued ….

Oct 16 2007, Abbotsford News

Abbotsford’s mayor and council were last night expected to make a decision on a bid to install up to 125 slot machines in the city’s bingo hall.

Five weeks after a public hearing which attracted more than 400 people, the application by the Abbotsford Bingo Association and Playtime Community Gaming Centres Inc. was on yesterday evening’s regular council agenda.

At the September public hearing, more than two-thirds of those who spoke voiced support for the plan.

There has been a greater time lapse than usual between a public hearing and a council vote, due to a decision by Abbotsford Mayor George Ferguson to only discuss the matter when all council members were present.

Last night’s meeting, which occurred after press deadline, was the first opportunity to do that.

The application, if approved, would see the bingo hall on Peardonville Road revamped into a community gaming centre. It would initially include 50 slot machines, a number which could grow to 125 depending on their popularity.

Operators of the Abbotsford bingo hall say the facility will close without the additional cash. Last year, the business handed $2.3 million in revenue to local community groups.

Copyright © 2007 Abbotsford News, A Division of Black Press Group Ltd.

Listowner 0pinion - this is a very misguided decision. How much harm is going to be created in Abbotsford due to 50 or 125 slot machines being installed in a moribund bingo hall? How much is the gambling harm going to end up costing Abbotsford? Is there help for problem gamblers in place in Abbotsford now? Are there provisions to offer help for problem gamblers and their families in Abbotsford once this decision is passed?
Lots of questions. As much research with regards to the introduction of gambling, especially slots, into a community - the economic benefits often pale compared to the costs in terms of community well-being. While the introduction of gambling into a community is often promoted as an economic boom, this is seldom the case in actuality, according to existing research in this field. It is a politician’s answer to generating revenues without consideration of the possible and potential harm that is created in communities with slots and a very short-term economic solution - superficial - rather than providing long-term economic development that benefits the community without creating harm.

The creation of community gambling centres out of dying bingo halls is occuring throughout BC - I would be very wary of this development. Research indicates that the community costs of slots end up to be way more than the revenues generated in terms of fraud, family dissolution and break-up, harm to children, etc. etc.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=31ab9521-fc57-44b5-9bd3-6f421d08cd5a

Glenda Luymes, The Province, Thursday, September 27, 2007

A few days before a contentious vote by city council, a telephone poll has found about half of Abbotsford’s residents against adding slot machines to the local bingo hall.

The debate has split the largely conservative Fraser Valley community, just as it split councillors, who originally voted 5-3 to approve first reading of the motion.

Two weeks ago, 500 people packed a public hearing on the issue, as many charities spoke in favour of the slots and the revenue they’d receive from them.

In response, a small group calling itself Abbotsford Families United commissioned the poll by Winnipeg-based NRG Group. It surveyed 300 Abbotsford voters between Sept. 21 and 24.

When asked, “Do you think city council should accept the proposal to install up to 125 slot machines in the bingo hall, or reject it?” 49 per cent of respondents said council should reject it and 40 per cent said council should accept it. Ten per cent were undecided.

“I think city council needs to hold a referendum or vote no to the proposal,” said Tricia Kolsto with Abbotsford Families United.

Kolsto pointed to studies that show gambling can increase a community’s crime rate and lead to more addiction and bankruptcy.

Continued ….

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=51194741-817c-4678-af62-1b9436bb45fc

Plans also call for live entertainment, poker room at View Royal facility

Bill Cleverley and Louise Dickson, Times Colonist, Friday, September 28, 2007

The Great Canadian Casino in View Royal is planning a significant expansion that would see it almost double its floor space, build a lounge for live entertainment and add a teletheatre where patrons could watch sporting events and bet on live horse races.

But whether it will get municipal council’s approval to serve alcohol throughout the building — even on the gaming floor — is anyone’s bet.

“We are proposing a full-service lounge in which I believe we will get liquor approval. Obviously, we would like to be able to get liquor approval throughout the entire facility as we have with our other properties in Richmond and Coquitlam,” said Howard Blank, Great Canadian’s vice-president of media and entertainment.

Indeed, Blank says the expanded casino would be patterned after the successful River Rock Casino in Richmond.

But any proposal to serve liquor on the gaming floor would be “hotly debated” by municipal council, View Royal Mayor Graham Hill said yesterday. Council needs to sign off on the expansion before it can go ahead.

“Council has a good regard for the GCC and the way they run their business. … The lottery corporation has a messaging campaign that says ‘play within your limits.’ I know that members of council have a sense that liquor on the gaming floor could interfere with judgment.”

continued ….

Former BC Lottery chief gets 600000 in severance

Last Updated: Thursday, August 23, 2007 | 6:14 PM PT, CBC News

The British Columbia Lottery Corp. has agreed to pay former president and CEO Vic Poleschuk, who was fired on June 1, more than $600,000 in severance.

The lottery corporation says it is obliged to pay the severance because legally, Poleschuk was terminated without cause.

Vic Poleschuk will take home more than $600,000 in severance under an agreement made public by the B.C. Lottery Corp.

(CBC) Information about the package is being revealed two months after Poleschuk was fired on the heels of a scathing report by provincial ombudsman Kim Carter that found ticket retailers were winning too often.

Carter said the lottery system is open to abuse and possible fraud, and lottery officials had failed to protect customers.

An independent audit released Thursday found that the lottery corporation doesn’t have sufficient security to stop retailers from fraudulently claiming prizes.

One of the major security shortfalls is that the corporation has inadequate methods for ensuring retailers who win do so legally, the audit found.

Ron Parks, who wrote the audit report, said new measures need to be put in place but that still wouldn’t provide total security.

“There is always possibility that there is going to be fraud at a lower level,” he said. “As in any business venture or anything that involves cash, there is always some exposure.”

Meanwhile, in detailing the terms of the severance agreement that was also released Thursday, the B.C. Lottery Corp. said Poleschuk’s severance is in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement.

The package includes $412,500 in wages (18 months’ salary), a $144,375 performance bonus and $26,600 in benefits. He is also entitled to a $1,100 per month car allowance during for the 18 months following his termination.

At the time of the termination, Poleschuk’s annual salary was $275,000, plus the car allowance and an annual performance bonus of 45 per cent of his annual salary.

Over 22 years, Poleschuk earned pension benefits from both the British Columbia Lottery Corp. pension plan and the supplementary pension plan for the president of corporation.

During the 18 month salary continuation period, Poleschuk will remain a member of both pension plans and pension accrual will be on the same terms as before his termination. Poleschuk has not given consent to release personal information related to the terms and amount of his pension.

Copyright © CBC 2007

ED - Another example of white collar crime associated with gambling problems.

Susan Lazaruk, The Province, Sunday, June 03, 2007

An accountant who admitted to defrauding the B.C. Nurses Union of almost $700,000 over six years has been expelled from the Certified Management Accountants Society.

Maureen Jean MacLean officially lost her right to practise as a CMA on May 15 after admitting the fraud before a hearing by the society’s professional-conduct-code committee.

MacLean was identified for the first time after the society ran public notices announcing the expulsion in newspapers on Friday.

“If we expel someone because of misconduct, we have to run a public notice,” said society spokesman Rick Lightheart.

Union president Debra McPherson, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, has said the union’s former finance director, at the time unnamed, had a gambling problem.

The union has recovered $503,000 from MacLean, who stole the money from 2000 to 2006, after she agreed to liquidate a home, recreational property, vehicle, RRSPs and Canada Savings Bonds that belonged to her and her spouse to pay the union back.

The union said earlier this year it is trying to recoup money from the unnamed firm that audited the union’s books without noting any improprieties.

MacLean became a CMA in 1999 and was fired last June after working for the union for 15 years.

The union said at the time of the firing that its priority was recovery of its members’ money and concluded that a negotiated settlement would be more successful than pursuing criminal prosecution.

slazaruk@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2007

© 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.