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by Rick Bouchard and Duncan Matheson
Published in the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal March 1, 3 and Moncton Times & Transcript March 4, 5
Part 1
Don't listen to their words. Fix your attention on their deeds.
-Einstein
Public statements by Premier Lord, Finance Minister Peter Mesheau and Health Minister Elvy Robichaud on gambling in New Brunswick would have us to believe socially responsible gaming is this government's priority. Sadly though, the actions suggest otherwise.
As individuals who were partly responsible for the positive result of the video gambling referendum, we have thought about this a lot, and feel a responsibility to speak out. We, like many New Brunswickers interpreted that referendum vote as more than simply a win for the yes side. We also saw in it a strong signal that New Brunswickers were concerned about problem gambling, and wanted it dealt with. In the intervening months we have seen nothing we could take as encouragement that the government plans to act on this signal. If anything, we see the opposite.
Lets look at what the government says, compared to what it does.
Last year Finance Minister Mesheau proudly announced publicly that under a call for tenders, 30 to 40 million dollars would be spent on new video lottery terminals. These terminals would feature built in clocks, cash not credit displays on the screen and forced cash outs after certain periods of time, all of which were said to be in the interests of discouraging problem gamblers. The tender call also invited submissions for implementing programs to deal with problem gambling.
Sounded like good news for problem gamblers and their families. Even thought the new technology was untested and described as ineffective by some experts, at least something was going to be done. Money for new programs was especially a plus.
So what happened?
Not so publicly and probably under the advice of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, Minister Mesheau, in addition to the new technology, proceeded to boost the percentage payouts on the new machines. It is well known in industry circles that increasing the payout is the quickest way to get a player to put in more money and to spend more time playing. The trick for the Government is to maximize profit by finding the point where the money coming in through extra play exceeds as much as possible the money going out because of the higher percentages. If you're a VLT owner it's a match made in heaven. If you're a compulsive gambler, it's one made in hell.
Anecdotal information on the new VLT's appears to reinforce the hell side. Recent reports suggest the higher payout percentages combined with much more inviting game formats and much more exciting play features in this new generation of machines has resulted in a greater number of problem gamblers than ever before.
So this strange contradiction is out there - the government's new bells and whistles on the machines as a public display they are concerned about problem gambling, but at the same time a much less public manipulation of the electronics aimed at getting people to gamble more. This is like making cigarette packaging less attractive to discourage smoking, while at the same time boosting the nicotine content.
And what about the tender awards? There was no hesitation in purchasing the new machines, but there still hasn't been an award for the new programs for problem gambling, now some nine months after the tender closed.
A cynical interpretation is hard to avoid. There appears to be a definitive disconnect between Minister Mesheau's words and his actions.
But he isn't the only one in the Lord government whose actions don't match their words. Minister of Health and Wellness Elvy Robichaud apparently heard the clear message given by the voters in the referendum. In a news conference held on March 19, 2002 referring to the referendum result he said: "The government is committed to the promotion of responsible gaming in this province.The voters of New Brunswick have told us they want VLTs to remain legal, but they must also be closely regulated and responsibly managed.
As with Minister Mesheau's words earlier, the Health Minister's comments resonated like good news - a responsible government taking charge of a social problem. Sounded like someone had gotten the message and was going to do something. But again, the actions failed to support the words.
Minister Robichaud eventually did release a report the government had commissioned on problem gambling. The study raises serious concerns, but you really have to wonder if the Minister is as concerned about the problem as he earlier claimed, when you consider his actions. He choose to release the report on a Friday afternoon in the middle of the Christmas rush, and this after sitting on it for about a year and a half. The problems raised in the report had been identified about 18 months earlier without any action by the government and even at this late date no concrete measures were put in place to deal with these problems.
When asked why he had waited so long to release the report he answered that he had been busy. When asked what his government was going to do about the problems identified in it, Minister Robichaud made reference to some vague initiatives that would take place in the new year. From what we can gather,the initiatives to finally seriously confront problem gambling amount to resurrecting a series of old Public Service Announcements.
There are other examples of contradictions between words and actions by the Lord government on the issue of gaming policy, such as the creation of budgets to deal with problem gaming, for which the money wasn't even spent.
It is all a little confusing. No government, especially this one that has a track record of keeping its promises, wants to be seen as failing to keep its word in this case. But it is. So why the contradiction? Are our political leaders being less than honest with us? Are they simply hypocrites that care nothing for the plight of our family members, friends, or neighbours that are afflicted with an addiction to gambling? Do they not care about the broken homes, the desperation, the lies, the suicides? Is it really all about the money for them? Actually, no, we don't think this is the case. We think the problem is rooted more in bad structure than bad politicians. Tomorrow, in Part 2, we'll discuss these fundamental problems and suggest a remedy.
- Rick Bouchard was Executive Director of the former New Brunswick Coin Machine Owners Association. Duncan Matheson's firm, Bissett Matheson Communications was the Association's communications counsel.
Part 1 | Part 2
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