Canada's leading horse-racing official wants the Ontario government to give him a chance to compete on a level field against offshore Internet gambling companies that take "millions and millions of dollars out of this country without being regulated or taxed." Either throw the field wide open for the domestic gambling industry to participate or enact legislation that will run the foreign-based World Wide Web gambling operations right off the track, David Willmot, the chairman and chief executive officer of Woodbine Entertainment Group, told the government. "We'd be happy with either scenario," he said. "The scenario I'm not happy with is status quo. We have laws that make on-line gambling illegal that are not being enforced because the government can't touch those operators. "But if we tried to open up a sportsbook, or on-line casino or poker room, the police would be on our doorstep the next day. They know where we are." Proposed legislation before the Ontario legislature would ban advertising for on-line gambling operations, crippling such businesses in the jurisdiction. The advertising ban would also put a financial dent in businesses that sell advertising space for the sites. These would include media outlets and four Canadian Football League clubs, Toronto, Hamilton, Calgary and Edmonton, which have an agreement for on-field advertising of gambling sites. The CFL as a league ended its agreement with bowmans.com and replaced it with an agreement for a non-betting site, partypoker.net. "It's more generic and more in line, a better fit for us," Perry Lefko, a CFL spokesman, said of partypoker.net. "I'm not here just to defend our turf [the racing industry], but there's been a lot said in the media that Woodbine is behind the legislation," Willmot said. "That's a load of rubbish. "Do we support the legislation? Absolutely, because on-line gambling is illegal. We have laws, but they are not being enforced. So, either you change them or you allow us to compete." In the end, Willmot said, the moralistic stand adopted by the United States, invoking Wire Act laws for an outright prohibition of on-line gaming, is the wrong course to take. "The gaming genie is out of the bottle. Only the United States is trying to make it a moral issue."
On-line gaming is legal, regulated and wide open in Britain. In France, the government closely defends its monopoly on gaming. Last month, two Austrian executives of an on-line gaming firm were arrested right before a news conference at which they were to announce a sponsorship deal with a Monaco soccer team. The French claim the Austrians infringed on their monopoly, while the Austrians claim they were acting within their rights under laws of the European Union.
In Canada, it is against the federal Criminal Code to host, license or promote on-line gambling. It also is illegal to advertise "inducements" to bet on the result of a contest or game of chance.
However, it is difficult for Canadian authorities to police on-line operations because the companies keep their headquarters outside their reach. For instance, Bowman International, which offers poker, casino-type games and a sportsbook, is based on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
A recent report from the Ontario government-financed Responsible Gambling Council said Internet gambling had tripled between 2001 and 2005 and quadrupled among young people, aged 18 to 24. Gambling has been glamorized with televised poker tournaments.
"We pay more than $15-million a year in regulatory fees to make sure our gambling is regulated and the consumer is protected," Willmot said. "This does not apply to illegal, on-line gaming.
"Either the law is enforced or it's a bad law, and, if that's the case, tax and regulate them and let us play by the same rules. We're not afraid to compete, but we can't do it with handcuffs on.
"As far as I'm concerned, bring on Party Poker and all these guys and let us compete with them. We can compete, and we can do it better."
Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips said on Wednesday that both the study warning about youth gambling activities and a fall in race track revenues had influenced the proposed legislation.
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