Sports betting changes closer to reality in Canada
Canada is one step closer to allowing betting on single sporting events, such as the Super Bowl.
Members of Parliament voted Tuesday night in favour of Windsor-Tecumseh NDP MP Joe Comartin's private members' bill that if passed would change the criminal code to allow gambling on one sporting event at a time.
Right now, gamblers must bet on the outcome of multiple games to legally bet. Gamblers must illegally bet with a bookie if they wish to bet on one game.
Comartin is confident the bill will breeze through the Justice and Human Rights Committee and receive a third reading in the House by year's end.
"I’m optimistic we’re ultimately going to get this through. It’s not often a private members’ bill gets through," Comartin said.
The bill was already fast-tracked. Members of Parliament decided to forgo a second hour of debate, which would have occurred about a month from now.
"I wasn't clear on how strong the support was going to be on the Conservative side of the House, but as I say there was no opposition whatsoever," Comartin said. "And there would have been an opportunity for members of that party to speak against it, but none of them did."
The bill goes to Senate after third reading. And that concerns Comartin.
Comartin said the Senate is "fairly notorious for slowing bills down."
"It isn’t an automatic rubber stamp," Comartin said.
But, he said he has already started campaigning senators for their support.
However, Comartin said an internet gambling company that has hired a lobby firm to counter the bill is also campaigning senators.
Comartin figures the government's focus on the ongoing economic uncertainty probably breathed life into the bill.
"It certainly was a factor," Comartin said. "This was a tool to secure employment or expand employment in the general economy. It was a factor, no question."
Comartin and Rick Laporte, president of CAW Local 444, which represents unionized workers at Casino Windsor, say the change will create or sustain jobs in Windsor.
