Saturday, September 23, 2006

School says no to gambling cash


Canada.comJudith Lavoie, Times Colonist Published: Sat, September 23, 2006

Gambling money underpins parent advisory councils across B.C., but the source of the much-needed cash poses an ethical dilemma for some parents. Unlike most PACs that happily pocket provincial grants funded by gambling, South Park Elementary does not."Gaming can be problematic for some people, and is the message that we want to be sending to our kids that we are making money off gambling?" said Rosemary Mann, a parent at the school and former PAC chairwoman. B.C. Lottery Corp. money has funded PACs since 1998. Until 2003, PACs needed to complete complicated forms to qualify for funding of $40 a student. Now the government distributes funds to all PACs based on $20 per student. This year more than 1,500 PACs will receive almost $12 million from the proceeds of casinos, lottery tickets and online gambling. South Park has never accepted the funds although it revisits the issue every few years.

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