Changes to Nova Scotia’s Gaming Control Act on the horizon

A win at the casino can be an exciting moment, but for an addict, it can be dangerous.

“If you make a lot of money your first time around, that is something they chase after, like a heroin addict,” said NDP MLA Lenore Zann.

READ MORE: Nova Scotia to eliminate lifetime ban for gamblers in self-exclusion program

She knows the feeling well herself, not from gambling, but from alcohol. “I’m an alcoholic, I quit drinking 24 years ago.”

That’s why she’s taken a stance against amendments to the Gaming Control Act.

Currently, the province has a voluntary exclusion program, which allows those with an addiction to voluntarily ban themselves from casinos in Nova Scotia. But it’s a lifetime ban, and amendments to the act are looking to change that.

The proposed legislation would allow for variable time lengths for the program.

“It is likely to mean a great number of people who would not have chosen self-exclusion because of the lifetime ban will now be able to opt into it,” said Jon Kelly, the former chair of Responsible Gambling Council.

“Where you have a variety of bans, you have more flexibility and you have more responsibility for the individual themselves.”

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But Zann said that flexibility can be part of the problem.

“For most addicts, the only answer is they do need to abstain.”

Voluntary exclusion programs are common across the country but Nova Scotia is the only province with a lifetime ban. It also has one of the lowest take-up rates with only about 2,000 participants.

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All four opposition MLAs on the Law Amendments Committee, including Zann, voted to stand the bill. But ultimately, it passed committee and will go back to the House for its third reading.

Zann said that if the bill helps more people to get help, then it will be a good thing but what she really wants is for the government to complete a gambling strategy.

“Look at what are the causes and effects of gambling in Nova Scotia, how many people are being affected, and whether or not the government should even take the money from this type of activity,” she said.