Big moves in the works at the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), which is jointly owned by four Atlantic provincial governments, headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick (all profits are returned by ALC to the provinces for their general funds).
ALC is part of the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation and in 2004, with the introduction of PlaySphere, allowed users to play the lottery over the Internet.
Brought up in their annual report for 2013-2014, ALC is proposing the introduction of online gambling. According to a report from CBC, after a decline in video lottery revenues among other losses, they stated that it was “time for a discussion.”
Atlantic Canadians are spending millions of dollars annually on these gambling sites that operate outside of any regulations established by our governments. Unlike Atlantic Lottery, those sites’ profits don’t stay in the region to support our communities.
ALC faces the challenge of attracting young adults who grew up in the digital world and players with profiles who will continue to game online, often with off-shore illegal gaming providers. They want to offer new styles of games to provide younger adults with entertaining options.
Supporters say the international competition has been taking a big bite out of the revenues generated by the corporation and it is time the government attempts to win some of that market back.
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