Senator Runciman confident: "Anyone who wants to bet on a football or hockey game is already doing it."
After it successfully survived the House of Commons, a bill seeking to allow single wager sports betting, launched by Canadian MP Joe Comartin, has now passed its second reading in the Senate.
Ontario Senator Bob Runciman, who defended the bill in the Senate, expressed his confidence re passing the bill, as well as his hopes to legalize betting on single sporting events, for the obvious reason that "...anyone who wants to bet on a football or hockey game is already doing it."
Although he didn't want to lay out an exact timeline, Runciman added that the process has been moving along quickly: "It opens a door to the provinces that want to offer (single-event betting), and of course, they would regulate it. It's really giving them an opportunity to bring this into their own jurisdiction."
Canadian Gaming Association vice president Paul Burns emphasized the organization's support for the bill. It goes in accordance with a 2011 Canadian Gaming Association report conclusion that single-game betting would allow border casinos in Windsor and Niagara Falls to bring in an additional $50 million in revenues and to provide 250 jobs between the two Ontario cities.
Runciman confirmed interest from Saskatchewan and, as he told the Senate, from Ontario and British Columbia: "We will probably see a lot of the provinces be more than willing to provide this opportunity to people who wish to gamble on single-event sports through their province and through their casinos."
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