THE ISSUE

Gambling is a huge source of grief for compulsive gamblers and their families. And, given that the odds always favour the house, for those of us who gamble with restraint it's a cost that we balance against pleasure. Few would argue that more gambling facilities are something our society needs. But governments have given us to them anyway, because they are the house, and they can make a lot of money from them. And they've justified their addiction by attaching gambling to community benefits: money for children's soccer, for arts groups, for hospitals.

Of course, it's complicated The internet has made gambling accessible to most of us, and the domino effect means that if one jurisdiction allows gambling its neighbour almost certainly will follow. We are well past the point where it's possible for governments to keep people from gambling.

The bottom line Would your government allow the number or size of casinos to expand? Would your government permit video lottery terminals in B.C.? What steps would your government take to help problem gamblers? Would your government use gambling to fund the 2010 Olympics?

THE ANSWERS

Green Party of BC

We would institute a moratorium on issuing new gambling licenses and phase out, over five years, the most addictive forms of gambling such as slot machines and on-line gambling. We would institute a 10 percent tax on all gambling winnings with a significant portion of these funds going to treatment and rehabilitation of gambling addicts, for harm reduction, and at educational programs aimed at reducing gambling. In regard to the 2010 Olympics: the Green party opposed bringing the Games to BC due to the enormous costs to the public. We have not changed our opinion about the Games, the special interest groups that the Olympics are designed to promote, or the need for the private sector to assume the vast bulk of costs. The Games organizing committee is herein served notice: a Green party government would not further support public expenditures of any nature for the 2010 Games and would empower the Auditor General to scrutinize any and all public funding of the Games. Misrepresentations of any aspect of Games preparations or costs will be dealt with by legal means.

Democratic Reform BC

Answer still pending.

BC Liberals

There is no mention of gambling in the BC Liberals platform, and individual candidates have mostly kept quiet about their gambling views. In 2001, the Liberals promised to stop gambling expansion. Instead, the Liberals allowed the British Columbia Lottery Corporation to increase the number of slot machines in a casino, allow slot machines at racetracks and bingo halls, and allow online sports gambling. However, Solicitor General Rich Coleman disputes the notion that gambling has expanded in several MP3s on at the BC Liberal website. Coleman says that gambling has not expanded, and that BCLC is now simply allowed to manage its own business to match market demand. Yet in March 2004, Coleman said: "I'm not going to say that none of this is expanded gaming because some of it is." Gambling harm reduction group argues the B.C. government spends four times as much money to promote gambling as it does on gambling addiction treatment.

NDP

The NDP platform states that it would not accept any more applications for gambling expansion and would close the online sports betting arm of the lottery corporation. It also pledges to improve gambling addiction treatment program and shift these programs over to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, rather than keeping them with the minister responsible for gambling. There's no mention of gambling revenues in relation to the 2010 Olympics. In government, the NDP expanded gambling - it's the reason the Liberals promised to stop gambling growth. And while the NDP essentially rejected a proposal for a cruise ship terminal and casino with a permanent stage for Cirque du Soleil, gambling issues have dogged the NDP in the past. Community charity bingo revenue was diverted to party campaign coffers in the 1980s, resulting in the Bingogate scandal that brought down former premier Mike Harcourt. Controversy over then-premier Glen Clark's association with a gambling licence applicant led to his resignation. And the government pushed slot machines in Vancouver over the objections of city council.