I am very concerned about the proposed plan to introduce a government-run high stakes online casino in Nova Scotia via the Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s (ALC) website.

Currently, in New Brunswick people can lose up to $10,000 a week gambling online at https://alc.ca Nova Scotia currently has a cap of $1,000 a week, and has not yet allowed the online casino, showing that Nova Scotia can set its own course for online gambling. Even that lower limit still means a person could lose $52,000 a year gambling online. You could lose your home, from your home!

In the proposed high stakes casino, if it is implemented in Nova Scotia, people could be using slots at $100 a “spin”(40 times the current legal limit for VLTs), blackjack at $500 a hand, and similar high stakes in other casino projects. Let’s not let this happen in Nova Scotia.

ALC and the government are trying to sell this as a safer alternative to offshore online casinos. However, in order to match the high stakes of offshore casinos, they will  create increased risk of harm here in Nova Scotia. This looks more like a money grab. There are two main reasons why this is not a safer alternative:

1.       Previous  experience with addictive substances like tobacco and alcohol, shows that the more accessible the product is (e.g. more outlets), the more harm. So, adding an additional outlet will cause harm to more Nova Scotians. Easy access from home or cell phone increases this risk.

2.       Having a government-sanctioned outlet gives the illusion of safety which may lead people who would not otherwise have considered online casino gambling to give it a try and potentially get hooked and harmed.

Gambling does not just harm people who gamble. It ripples out to family and friends and workplaces. Money lost in online gambling leaves the community and is not available to support local business or community groups. Gambling can increase crime rates, domestic violence, poverty, depression and suicide. This also increases costs to taxpayers for health services, social services and justice services. The strain this has on our community outweighs the advertised "profit".

Tax money would be better spent on community-based prevention programs that would build awareness of how to avoid gambling harms.

Please respond to this letter and let me know that you are committed to stopping the proposed online casino expansion into Nova Scotia.