网络赌博可以给加拿大带来很多财政收入
下面是多伦多星报上的一篇文章：
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! o. ^; u9 j U5 ?) T9 FOnline gambling a sure bet for Ottawa's coffers
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* D, T* g: e! Y/ e2 J! ^2 ]Dec 02, 2008 04:30 AM/ P$ d2 v$ @! h2 z' L$ Y" P( i
Dave Perkins
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- M. r9 _0 `& R: hThere was a terrific piece on 60 Minutes Sunday, in conjunction with an investigation by the Washington Post, examining cheating in the world of online poker." F' U) a% d8 n9 j% K7 o4 m
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Not everyone will be shocked to learn of cheating – call it fraud – in activities that fly under the legal radar.; B& ?# `6 y8 d& a
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Telling, at least here, was that the trail leads right to the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve, just south of Montreal.
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8 D- D9 j/ S- Z! _, ^6 H jInternet gambling operations handling more than $18 billion a year – and growing every month – operate out of the reserve while our government stands by, terrified to intervene and enforce the law. Everyone remembers nearby Oka in 1990. An on-camera interview with a spokesperson was blunt. He said the Kahnawake are "not Canadians'' but independent people and not subject to Canadian law.
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Fine, fine. So the time will never be better than right now to change the law and make Internet gambling – and sports betting, while we're at it – fully legal across the country. We could legalize it, regulate and tax it, the way Britain did in 2004; first year's revenue in the U.K. was more than £1.5 billion.
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& S# \; \* x9 G2 ~* LWith governments scrambling for tax revenues, this would be a relatively painless windfall. Companies operating on the shady side of the law could operate out in the open, pay taxes and sponsor events. That's what happens in Britain now.3 w) n0 m& s6 d# G
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Gamblers will gamble, whether it's legal or not, but they would prefer to bet with legal, regulated companies. For one thing, this kind of online poker fraud could be addressed and punished openly, instead of handled secretly, as is happening in the cases at the centre of the WashPost/60 Minutes story.* Y) X% z% w5 y1 _9 Z- Q9 U
( l' _+ e/ Z" tSince Ottawa is scared to beat the Kahnawake betting operations, it should join them instead – and beat them to the billions of dollars available. Make it legal, set up the regulating framework and watch the money pour in.6 s7 u' P# a* f# e2 [& j
/ [3 D$ l( n' t$ m+ K G5 UIn these economically turbulent times, it makes nothing but sense to profit legally from an activity that is both here to stay and is growing every year.
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We already allow most forms of gambling and people can't be stopped from doing it on the Internet now. So step up and do it right. Rake a square game of online poker, if that's what people want to play. Allowing single-game sports betting also would provide revenues that could go to everyone from amateur sports to the pro events on which a majority of betting will take place.! |5 V5 n! h6 g. H) w
2 ]6 W; `* ~. S& l# g8 `This decision is both so obvious and so far overdue that it should be a no-brainer. Even for Ottawa., d3 {- U. @9 }2 l" a
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ON THE CORNER: Right on time, Syd Cooper's R.M.C. Stable shows up with $500 to buy gifts for kids at Christmas. As always, Syd and Florence mail a cheque in behalf of "fine sportsmen and good guys,'' namely Jim Proudfoot, Rhys Thomson and Harry Sherkin. Thus begins today's Jim Proudfoot Corner of the Star's Santa Claus Fund, which continues with $100 bumps from John Marchment of Scarborough and Markham's Bruce Barnett, who always delivers in behalf of Jesse Ketchum schoolkids from the '40s and '50s. Aurora's Doug Hayes adds $100 in memory of Leif Pettersen, who was terrific fun on the golf course, and Ian Strachan of Scarborough celebrates the memory of lifelong Tigers fan Bob Apsey.: d' p+ f9 V/ [& s; V0 Z: p: `
8 E: `2 Y5 t9 |' FStar types appear with C-notes for lost colleagues: Marty Archer remembers circulation guy John Chong and George Pereira and George Nearing honour our pal Brad Henderson.
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" p3 m- r% G; y& mJim Fitzgerald always sends $100 to remember his friend Doug Robertson and the Old Farts Poker Club ante up $297.50 for the kids in memory of departed members Bruce Milne and Carl (Buck) McConnachie.
