Politics of Gaming in the "Garden Province", The

Journal of Canadian Studies, Winter 2007 by McKenna, Peter

Province-sponsored gambling or "gaming" has become enormously popular in Canada. In August 2005, the Charlottetown Driving Park Entertainment Centre or "racino" opened on Prince Edward Island (PEI), complete with some 225 video lottery terminals (VLTs). This gaming decision involved a host of gambling stakeholders, politicians, anti-gambling groups, the media, and the general public. Like similar gaming policy outcomes in other provincial jurisdictions, it highlighted the lack of public consultation and the power of governments to force such controversial decisions through. More important, the racino decision revealed that PEI was no longer immune to the politics of gambling in Canada.

Les jeux de hasard sont devenus extrêmement populaires au Canada, y compris sur l'Îledu-Prince-Édouard (Î.-P.-É.). En août 2005, le Charlottetown Driving Park Entertainment Centre (le racino) a ouvert ses portes. Le Centre comprend quelque 225 terminaux de loterie vidéo. Beaucoup de gens ont participé à la prise de cette décision, dont des parties intéressées par le jeu, des politiciens, des groupes de répression des jeux illégaux, les médias et le grand public. Comme ceci a été le cas pour d'autres politiques similaires sur les jeux de hasard dans d'autres compétences provinciales, cette décision a fait ressortir le manque de consultation publique et le pouvoir des gouvernements de forcer de telles décisions controversées. De plus, la décision sur le racino a révélé que l'Î.-P.-É. n'était plus immunisée contre les politiques canadiennes visant les jeux de hasard.

The tiny province of Prince Edward Island (PEI), population 138,000, has long been known for its brownish "spuds," sandy beaches, and the fabled story of Anne of Green Gables. Given its traditional, largely rural, and small-c conservative political culture, the province has lagged behind other provincial jurisdictions in Canada in terms of political and socio-economic development. In part, this helps to explain why the island has refrained from following in the footsteps of many of the other provinces by aggressively throwing itself into the gambling or "gaming" business. In fact, in September 1999, Premier Pat Binns reconfirmed his government's opposition to legalized gambling when he said, "We took a stand 2 ½ years ago during the election campaign. At that time we said that there would not be casino-type operations in PEI and we have not changed our mind despite some interest from the original Charlottetown Driving Park (CDP) in establishing VLTs at that location. We don't plan to change our regulations and so there will not be such a facility at the driving park" (quoted in Thibodeau 2004a, A1)1 Today, that is no longer the case on PEI. This raises the key question: why did the premier change his mind in five short years?

Indeed, in August 2005, the Conservative government-in conjunction with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC)-opened the shiny new facility in Charlottetown, the Driving Park Entertainment Centre (popularly referred to as a "racino").2 While the old CDP has undergone a $25 million facelift and redesign to help bolster the foundering harness-racing sector on PEI, it is the installation of some 225 video lottery terminals (VLTs) that has engendered the most controversy. In fact, countless gambling prevalence studies and numerous documented reports from neighbouring Nova Scotia point to the highly addictive capacity of these electronic machines.3 Still, the provincial government emphasized the urgent need to trim public spending and to increase revenues (partly through gaming activities) in a period of tight budgetary and financial restraint.

PEI is one of the last provinces to embrace gaming or gambling revenues as a reliable means of halting growing budget deficits.4 Given the fact that there are no casinos (or even strip clubs) on PEI, that the hours of operation for VLTs were restricted in 1993, and they were pulled from corner grocery stores (non-liquor-licensed establishments) in 1998, how can this contentious public policy decision be understood and explained? The purpose of this article, then, is four-fold: first, to chronicle and examine the events that unfolded prior to the new Charlottetown racino's opening in August 2005; second, to identify the various "pull" and "push" factors that help to account for this policy decision-even in the face of some persistent public opposition; third, to highlight the extent to which individual politicians and policy-makers, especially on PEI, can have an enormous impact on political outcomes; and last, to make some general observations on the politics of gaming here on PEI and on the Binns government's power to ram through unpopular policy decisions, and its willingness to accept the social fallout from the attendant gambling problems from VLT addiction.

Gaming Comes to PEI

It is now common knowledge that "gambling fever" has afflicted a large number of Canadians, and provincial governments in Canada have been quick to move into this policy field as sponsors and regulators. At an average yearly gambling expenditure of roughly $500 per (non-problem gambler) Canadian, citizens in this country are spending some $12 billion on gaming activities every year (up from $2.7 billion in 1992). With some 19 million Canadians wagering billions of dollars, provincial treasuries are raking in more than $6 billion in profit annually, which is then blended into general government revenues.5 While governments struggle with the social fallout from gambling addiction, they have essentially developed an unhealthy dependence on these revenues. Prince Edward Island, then, is merely the last of a long list of provincial jurisdictions to turn its sights on the potential revenue-generating capacity of gaming-particularly the cash cow of VLTs.6