To the Editor:
In 2007 Anielski Management Inc. was commissioned by the Nova Scotia government - Conservative at the time - to conduct a study on the impact of gambling in the province.
The study was to use the new national Socio-Economic Impacts of Gambling (SEIG) framework which I had just completed for all provinces.
The study had two objectives: to establish a base-line analysis of a range of social and economic impacts that can be attributed to gambling in Nova Scotia, and to present an analytical, factual and objective snap-shot of those impacts.
Our completed 323-page final draft report, called The Socio-economic Impact Study of Gambling in Nova Scotia, was delivered on June 22, 2009. However, on July 8, 2009, the steering committee overseeing the research study met in private - our research team was not invited - and decided to reject our report's research findings, conclusions and recommendations.
We have since been accused of using faulty research methods and flawed statistics, and of focusing too narrowly on the well-being impacts of a relatively few number of Nova Scotia's problem gamblers and on Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs).
To say I was shocked that our study was dismissed so cavalierly would be an understatement. If it had been released, it would have been the first of its kind: a comprehensive well-being impact assessment of gambling in Canada and in the world. It would also have set a new standard for accountability for both the positive and negative impacts of gambling.
For the study, we looked at both the positive and negative impacts all forms of gambling - VLTs, slots, casinos, bingo, ticket lotteries, charitable lotteries, and internet gaming - had on the province's GDP, government revenues, job creation, business growth, the economy in general, tourism, recreation, health and well-being, crime, and communities.?We also examined any impacts gambling may have on job productivity, absenteeism, bankruptcy rates, and job losses that could be attributed to gambling.
Finally, we tried to estimate the impact of gambling on disease rates, suicide, psychological distress, judiciary costs, substance abuse, family breakdown (e.g. divorce), depression, social isolation, loss of sense of community, and loss of quality time with family, friends.
Unfortunately we cannot report the findings of our analysis because the Nova Scotia government refuses to honour its contractual obligations (we are not being paid), nor will it release our study to the public, for reasons that have not been adequately explained.
However, it is still possible, by answering a few simple questions, to paint a portrait of the impact gambling is having on the well-being of Nova Scotians - and by extension all provinces since each has grown dependent on legalized gambling revenues, especially from VLTs.
Governments across Canada rely heavily on income they receive from gambling. In Alberta, the provincial budget forecast for 2009-10 estimated that more money would come from gambling ($1.5 billion) than from oil sands royalties ($1 billion). Of that $1.5 billion, which represents 4.7 per cent of total provincial forecast revenues, roughly 85 per cent will come from VLTs and slot machines.
According to the Canadian Gambling Digest, Alberta's take from gambling - the highest amount per capita among the provinces - amounted to $871 for every adult resident in 2007-08. The national average was only $547.
In Nova Scotia, during the same fiscal year, the provincial government netted over $169 million in gambling revenues (after payouts and related operating expenditures). That represents 1.8 per cent of that year's revenues ($9.2 billion) - 56.1 per cent came from VLTs (excluding First Nations gaming).
According to a 2007 study of adult gamblers by Halifax-based Focal Research Consultants, gamblers surveyed cited VLTs as the principal source of gambling problems. That same study also found that the vast majority of problem gamblers, 67 per cent, are VLT problem gamblers. VLTs accounted for the overwhelming majority of adult problem gamblers (86 per cent).
Focal Research Consultants estimated that in 2007, 19,000 adults were moderate problem and severe problem gamblers. Again, Focal Research estimates that the average Nova Scotia's problem gambler lost $7,542 in 2007, which is more than the $6,403 a typical Nova Scotia family spent on food in 2005. If we multiplied the average problem gambler's net loss by the estimated 19,000 problem gamblers, then the total loss by problem gamblers in 2007 is estimated at $141.6 million. This would imply that 19,000 problem gamblers contributed an estimated 32.8 per cent to Nova Scotia's net gaming revenues ($351.8 million) in 2007-08.
What would it cost Nova Scotia economically if it were to get rid of all VLTs? In 2007-08, the provincial government netted $94.9 million from VLTs (leaving First Nation VLTs aside). The price of eliminating all provincial VLTs would amount to about $100 per person per year, the equivalent of roughly 65 Tim Horton's cups of coffee. In Alberta, that price to eliminate VLTs would be higher, an estimated $728 per Albertan.
Our research for the Nova Scotia government has led me to an inescapable conclusion. The majority of negative financial, health and social impacts are experienced by problem gamblers and are VLT related. All Canadians should be outraged by the negative impacts legalized gambling is having on our society and many of our fellow citizens.
It is time to have an open debate on this issue and to hold our governments accountable for the impacts of some of their public policy decisions.
Mark Anielski, Anielski Mgt. Inc.
