Hi all:

It is Responsible Gambling Month in Ontario (in case
you don't know).  As a problem gambling researcher,
counsellor and activist, I am very frustrated by the
use of old data by the Responsible Gambling Council in
Ontario which is being fed to the media and repeated
like a mantra.  

I have decided to launch my own response and write a
letter to the editor of the newspaper repeating this
misinformation (so far I have written LTEs to The
Toronto Sun and Windsor Star ... but it is still early
in the month!)  

I am ccing the letters to the Canada Safety Council,
Gambling Watch Canada, and Ontario's Ministry of
Health Promotion.  I now have the email contacts for
the new federal Minister of Health (Tony Clement), the
Liberal Health critic (Ken Dryden), the NDP Health
Critic (Penny Pretty) and BQ Santé (Christiane Gagnon
and Nicole Demers) who I will also start to cc.

Here is the LTE.  Regards, Christine

March 4, 2006

Re:  "Problem gaming targeted" by Ann Jarvis, The
Windsor Star, March 4, 2006.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am curious and concerned about the estimates of
problem gamblers in Ontario quoted in this article. 

According to the figures quoted it is estimated
that ONLY 340,000 Ontario residents have gambling
problems.

I am wondering why 2001 data is being cited regarding
the incidence of problem gambling in Ontario?  The
estimate of 340,000 problem gamblers is found in a
2001 study "Measuring gambling and problem gambling in
Ontario", conducted by Wiebe, Single and Falkowski-Ham
and funded by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research
Centre.  A more recent study, however, by Williams and
Wood, "The demographic sources of Ontario Gaming
Revenue,"also funded by the Ontario Problem Gambling
Research Centre and published in 2004 estimates that
in 2003 approximately 435,000 Ontario adults exhibited
moderate to severe gambling problems.  

This more recent research indicates a significant
change in the numbers of problem gamblers in Ontario: 
3.8% in 2001 (Wiebe et al. study) vs. 4.8% in 2003
(Williams et al.). The Williams and Wood report also
indicates that 60% of provincial slot machine revenues
are being derived from those being harmed by EGM
gambling (ie. problem gamblers). 

The Responsible Gambling Council receives $6 million a
year through the Ministry of Health Promotion to
provide prevention and awareness regarding problem
gambling (incidentally, there is no mention of problem
gambling on the Ministry of Health Promotion website).
 
The cost of this most recent media campaign by the
Responsible Gambling Council in Ontario is quoted by
Windsor Star writer Ann Jarvis as costing tax-payers
in Ontario $1.5 million dollars.

The numbers appear to significantly minimize the
numbers of problem gamblers in Ontario.  Even the
Williams and Wood data is now out-dated and
conservative given the rapid expansion of slots into
racinos across Ontario. 

Why is an organization that is charged with public
education around problem gambling prevention and
awareness, and funded by the Ontario tax-payers,
quoting old data and thereby minimizing the numbers
of problem gamblers in Ontario?

Sincerely,

Christine McKay

Ottawa 

cc:  Emile Therien, President, Canada Safety Council
     Johannes Deviet, Gambling Watch Canada
     Honourable James Watson, Ministry of 
     Health Promotion (emailed to MoHP 'Contact Us' 
     page)


 



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