CGA Update Volume 2
VOLUME 2, JUNE 2018
Welcome to the CGA Update. As part of our outreach to Canada’s gaming industry, the CGA Update will provide you with insights and updates on the association’s projects and activities. Let us know what you think, we value your feedback. You can always reach us at [email protected]
MEMBER BRIEFING
Ontario’s first Progressive Conservative government in 15 years will be sworn in on June 29th, 2018, launching a new agenda for Ontario. Join the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) for a post swearing in briefing to learn how your organization can navigate this government.
The CGA invites you to join us and a panel of experts for a Members Briefing to gain insight into government priorities, the new policy agenda, key players, and most importantly, what this means for gaming in Ontario.
Thursday July 5, 2018
8:00AM – 9:30AM
Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP
199 Bay Street (Commerce Court West) Suite 4000
M5L 1A9
SPORTS BETTING
The CGA issued a news release within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s PASPA ruling on May 14, 2018, making itself available to discuss the issue and to point out that repeated requests to the federal government to amend the Criminal Code to allow provinces to implement single-event wagering have fallen on deaf ears.
Paul Burns, President & CEO, was busy that week, completing approximately a dozen interviews across all channels (print, radio and online).
Highlights include:
It is terrific to see renewed interest in this issue from media, professional sports associations, law makers and communities. Jim Diodati, mayor of Niagara Falls and a champion of past attempts to pass single-event sports wagering legislation, says the court's decision to allow sport betting in every U.S. state will have a negative effect on Canadian casinos and the gaming industry, especially in border cities like Niagara Falls and Windsor.
The CGA has called on the federal government to make the simple amendment to the Criminal Code to permit single-event sports wagering. Canadians wager approximately $500 million annually through the legal sports lottery products, however it is estimated that Canadians are wagering in excess of $10 billion annually through illegal bookmaking operations, often run by organized crime. Single-event sports wagering is a product Canadians clearly want and this is something the industry has been actively pursuing.
We hope to have more developments to share with you soon, as we continue to meet with interested stakeholders.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Canadian Gaming Summit kicks off in Niagara Falls on June 18, 2018. This year’s program has been refined to concentrate on the depth and quality of the information and education experience, and we are excited to offer keynote addresses from Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of GlobAlive, Paul Lauzon and Paige Schoenfeld from Ipsos, and Stowe Shoemaker, Dean of the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at UNLV. We look forward to seeing you in Niagara Falls next week! And don’t forget to download the Summit app, available in the App Store and Google play: https://www.canadiangamingsummit.com