Senate rejection of sports gambling bill likely to affect zero gamblers

It seems like an odd time for the Senate to flex its muscles and show off its ability to block even the most unanimously approved bills, but here we go.

According to the Globe and Mail, the Senate is set to reject a bill that would make it legal to gamble on sports. Well, not sports, because we already do that through government-run agencies; but to gamble on single games.

Currently Canadians can place parlay bets, where you have to pick the winners of more than one game at a time. To do anything else one would have to have access to gambling institutions in another country, which you certainly couldn't find on the Internet.

The bill that was passed unanimously by the House of Commons would allow Canadians to place bets on single games here at home, and needs only to be rubber-stamped by Senate to become law.

The Globe reports that that stamp is suddenly not so rubber, and the Conservative-dominated Senate is set to put its foot down.

Only eight bills have been defeated by the Senate in the last 70 years. The move is all the more peculiar considering it was unanimously approved by Parliament.

The National Hockey League, among other sports, has been lobbying hard to have the bill killed by claiming single-game betting would cause sports to lose integrity in the eyes of their fans.

Know what else would cause a sport to lose integrity in the eyes of fans? Cancelling a season as two sides of wealthy men argue over who gets how much of our money. Just sayin'.

You actually have to respect the NHL for taking this position. According to the Canadian Press, the league claims letting people to bet on single games (as opposed to those parlay bets where you need to predict the outcome of several games) could lead to more match-fixing by players or referees, or fans in the front row or whoever.

This is all fine and good. The Senate will block the bill and betting on a single game will remain illegal in Canada. And all those Canadians who are currently betting on single games will continue unabated thanks to a beautiful thing called the internet.

It is regrettable to have to rain on the Senate's parade, but this act of force will affect no gamblers anywhere in the country. There are international betting sites that offer them safe harbor, and will continue accepting their money.

This is not a secret. This is a well-known thing going on, and probably the impetus for Parliament's decision to pass the new bill and keep some of that gambling revenue in the country.

Canadian gambling agencies will continue getting their slice, while the rest of the pie is fed to companies called GamblingTimeUK.com or some such thing.

One company that owns such a gambling site is currently a major sponsor of at least one Canadian Football League team. Its logo papers the stadium, and there are only two or three mouse clicks between that logo and a website where you can gamble on single games.

It has likely been decades since many in the Senate have made it out to a professional football game, but one of them must have a great-grandchild who has been to a match. Or heard of the Internet.