Children abandoned while parents gamble, says B.C. Lottery Corporation

CBC NEWS May 23

About once a month, children are left alone in vehicles in B.C. casino parking lots while their parents gamble, according to B.C. Lottery Corporation documents obtained by the CBC through an access to information request. The BCLC documents, which it took the CBC four years to obtain, contained details of thousands of incidents of alleged wrongdoing at B.C. gaming facilities, including dozens of cases of alleged child abandonment. Among them was a four-year-old found alone in a vehicle outside the Great Canadian Casino in Coquitlam in February 2003. In June of the same year, at the Gateway Casino in Burnaby, a four-year-old was heard screaming inside a van. And in December, two children thought to be ages one and two were found abandoned in a car. "One a month is too many, one a year is too many. Obviously, we need to take seriously the security in the parking lot as well as inside the facility," said Paul Smith of the BCLC. Parents who leave their children in vehicles are typically barred from the casino for a year, and they will also be flagged at other facilities, according to the BCLC. But experts such as Garry Smith of the Alberta Gaming Research Institute at the University of Alberta say there are few mechanisms in place to stop the parents if they start gambling again. One vocal opponent of gambling expansion in B.C. said he is not surprised the industry has led to more problems. "I get complaints from as far as Hong Kong asking me how to help the people who are addicted to gambling," said Bill Chu of the Multicultural Coalition Against Gambling Expansion. "There are people that fail to take into account the safety and welfare of their children in favour of other activities," Paul Smith said. "That's not right and it's certainly not a behaviour we condone by any means.… In fact, we take it very seriously and within the limits of authority that we've got, send a message that says that behaviour isn't accepted." The B.C. Lottery Corporation did not provide statistics as to whether any parents have ever been charged

DOCUMENT: B.C. Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch report (pdf)
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Don Quixote Note: The City of Vernon has set aside $50,000 in a Social Responsibility Fund. (The money is to come from the the 6% of gross gaming winnings that the City receives for being the Host Government). This fund has not yet being defined as to its use but the intention of those who proposed such a fund was that it was to be an annual fund and dedicated to addictions, firstly gambling addictions and then onto other addictions as this Social Responsibility Fund increased in size. The original intent that the local Casino ante up the $50,000 each year as a separate and distinct social contribution was foiled when the Council allowed the Casino expansion before negotiating the necessary Social Responsibility Fund with Lake City. On Monday after about a month of delay the discussion of limiting the slot machines allowed in the City and the possible upward adjustment of Business License fees for the Casino will be debated.