Gambling has grown in popularity of the last few years with the emergence of televised poker tournaments and the convenience of online casinos.  The Canadian provincial government authorities found it very important, in the time of gambling hysteria, to underline the importance of responsible gambling, whether at online casinos or traditional casinos.

Nine responsible gambling information officers have been hired by the government to educate casino staff and patrons on the signs and dangers of problematic gambling practices.

The distribution of the responsible gambling information officers is an early stage in the countries intention to permanently staff such an officer at ever casino.  “We did a pilot program in 2005 at two Lower Mainland casinos and discovered that worked quite well,” explained Derek Sturko, assistant deputy minister of gaming policy.

“This is part of our plan to grow that out to every casino gaming facility.” 

Sturko is convinced that early intervention by gambling information officer will have the power to save some patrons before they fall too deep into the temptation of problem gambling.  He also was sure to clarify that there are no statistics to support of surge of gambling addiction in British Columbia.

NDP gaming policy critic, Harry Lali, had a negative view on the creation of the responsible gambling information officer position.  Lali considered this “a stark admission by this government that Liberal policies are directly creating gambling addicts in this province. It is the massive expansion of gambling by Gordon Campbell and the Liberals that is creating this problem.”

Revenues from casinos have doubled from $554 million to almost $1.1billion since British Columbia Liberals came to power.

Twenty casinos are operated for the British Columbia Lottery Corporation by private companies.  The British Columbia Lottery Corporation manages all legal gambling in British Columbia for the government.

This growth in casinos does not even consider the increase in popularity enjoyed by online casinos.