GAMBLING PRAYER AND ACTION KIT An EFC Resource for Churches

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1 GAMBLING PRAYER AND ACTION KIT An EFC Resource for Churches August 2006

2 Table of Contents Introduction Page 3 Background: A Brief History of Gambling in Canada Page 4 What you can do Page 5 Sample Letter Page 8 Helpful scriptures Page 9 Additional Resources Page 10 Endnotes Page 11 2

3 INTRODUCTION Today, over 1.8 million Canadians and their families are living with some form of gambling addiction, or what many call problem gambling. This addiction can lead to family breakdowns, financial ruin, and even suicide. Across Canada, rising rates of gambling addiction are fueled by increasing ease of access to gambling venues and activities. Because they regulate and profit from gambling, it could be said that provincial and territorial governments are complicit in the suffering of Canadian families through the prolific expansion of government-sponsored gambling over the last 20 years. In 2005, provincial and territorial governments took in an estimated $6.84 Billion in net gambling revenue. Less than 1% of gambling revenue, $59 million, is spent on the treatment, study and prevention of gambling addiction. To put this into perspective, for each gambling addict in Canada, the various governments rake in approximately $3800 in profit while spending only $32 per gambling addict to provide resources and help to break the cycle of addiction. Video Lottery terminals (VLT s) 1 are described by Statistics Canada as the crack cocaine of gambling 2. In some provinces, up to 1/3 of all net gambling revenue comes from VLT s. Whereas typically less than 5% of the adult population becomes addicted to gambling on the whole, 11% become addicted to VLT s. Do governments face a conflict of interest in this regard? Governments must choose between helping curb gambling addictions, which diminishes their revenue, or maximizing profits at the expense of gambling addicts. As governments become increasingly reliant on gambling revenues, their choice so far has been on the side of profits over people. Greed is at the core of the gambling industry. Gamblers hope for the big win, which drives them to spend more. Addicts spending is fueled by desperate attempts to win back losses. For governments, the lure of millions of dollars in extra revenue leads them to expand the number gambling venues and opportunities. As the Church, we are called to speak out for the vulnerable and the suffering, and stand against injustice. We have an important role to play in addressing the devastating social and moral problem of government-sponsored gambling. This resource is intended to provide you with information and resources to help you and your congregation prayerfully consider what you can do to bring before your elected politicians the risks and consequences of gambling in Canada to our society, our families, and to individuals. 3

4 Gambling in Canada: A Brief History Gambling in Canada is regulated under the Criminal Code Section VII: Disorderly Housing, Gaming and Betting. More specifically, the Code covers gambling issues in sections , titled Gaming and Betting. In 1892, the Criminal Code outlawed all forms of gambling except horse racing. An amendment to the Code in 1969 allowed both the provinces and the federal government to engage in broader forms of gambling, such as lotteries. The federal government, for example, established an Olympic lottery to help fund the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. During this time, the federal and provincial governments found themselves in competition for gambling revenues. To resolve this tension, in 1985 a major amendment to the Criminal Code, Section 207, delegated control over lotteries and gambling activities to the provinces and opened the door to video lottery terminals 3. Rhys Stevens of the Albert Gaming Research Institute comments on the unique nature of this arrangement in his paper Legalized Gambling in Canada: Canada has a unique policy structure with respect to gambling. It differs from many international counterparts as gambling operates exclusively under the control of the provincial and territorial governments. These governments work within the limitations of the Criminal Code charities, First Nations and private operators benefit from gambling in Canada by providing provincially-authorized gambling facilities through operational arrangements. 4 The only form of gambling under federal regulation is horse racing. This exception has remained unchanged in the Criminal Code since Provincial governments authorize horse racing and the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency (CPMA, an agency of the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food) regulates horse racing. According to the CPMA website: The regulations enforced by the CPMA are Section 204 of the Criminal Code of Canada and the Pari-Mutuel Betting Supervision Regulations. 5 In summary, gambling in Canada is provincially authorized, within the limitations of the Criminal Code. The federal government can review the gambling legislation in the Criminal Code, but has no direct role in the authorization and expansion of gambling in Canada. In addition, while provinces authorize gambling, decisions regarding the expansion of gambling facilities are often made at the municipal level. As Christians respond to the gambling issue and the expansion of gambling venues, much of their work will be done at the municipal level. This document has been created with this reality in mind. 4

5 WHAT YOU CAN DO? BECOME INFORMED If a gambling establishment already exists in your community, contact your municipal representative to request your municipality s most recent annual report. This report will give an accounting of gambling revenues for the past year. Track the progress of gambling in your community through the media and personal contacts. Examine the social costs of gambling which governments may not have the time or desire to examine: bankruptcies, broken homes, suicides. What are the effects of gambling in your community? Are gambling facilities and venues being expanded in your community? You can become informed and become the resident expert on gambling in your local area. If there are plans to bring gambling to your community, consider joining together with other Christians to strategize. Look at the facts and figures presented in the EFC s provincial and national studies. Speak to the damaging effects of gambling on community: Does the establishment of a restaurant in a gambling facility help or harm local restaurants? Does the addition of a casino or slots truly attract non-local gamblers, or will most gamblers be drawn from the local community? Does a new casino or slots establishment truly draw more tourist dollars to the local economy, or are tourist gamblers more likely to spend their money only at the casino? Become aware of gambling developments locally and across the country. A great resource is the Gambling Watch newsletter. You can sign up for their weekly newsletter by ing a request to jdeviet@rogers.com. On the EFC website you will find provincial and territorial summaries of how gambling is regulated and operated, gambling revenues and money spent to address problem gambling or you can download the complete national summary. COOPERATE Your ministerial association may wish to raise these ideas with your larger local Christian community. Try to determine if churches in your community can speak with one voice concerning the pitfalls of gambling. Seek out individuals locally who are already engaged in the gambling issue and try to form a group to pool your ideas and resources. 5

6 PRAY Prayer is absolutely essential to effective action on any issue. Consider praying for the following issues: That your municipal government would take seriously the costs of gambling in any consideration of gambling expansion in your community. That your municipal government would give a fair hearing and take into serious consideration the concerns of those who oppose gambling locally. That municipal and provincial governments would be freed from their own addiction to gambling revenues. That governments would see gambling in terms of its true costs to society and not strictly in terms of maximizing profit. For individuals addicted to gambling and their families: that the community would acknowledge their struggles and support them as best possible and pray that they will be delivered from their addiction. RAISE AWARENESS Suggest to your pastor that he/she preach a sermon which addresses the issue of gambling from a Biblical standpoint. Request prayer during worship for elected officials when they are determining the expansion of gambling in your area. Pray for gambling addicts that they might find the support they need to break free of their addiction. Attend municipal council meetings where gambling is being discussed. Speak about the situations of local gambling addicts which are public knowledge. Ask how much of the profits from local casinos or slots-at-racetrack establishments are spent to help gambling addicts. Present information about the issue of gambling addiction in front of your local elected officials. Deliver a summary of gambling in your province or territory to them face to face, if at all possible. Share freely the EFC research, as well as any other resources you find helpful, with anyone who asks (in print and in conversation). BECOME INVOLVED IN HELPING GAMBLING ADDICTS We can hardly call on the government to spend more money on treatment of gambling addicts while we sit back and do nothing. Our voice will be stronger if we speak from first-hand experience-of witnessing and helping problem gamblers, and documenting the negative effects of gambling on our society. Offer your church building as a meeting place for Gambling Anonymous or Gam-Anon group meetings. If you are a financial advisor, volunteer some of your time to counsel those impoverished by gambling debt to help them through their financial difficulties. 6

7 If you personally know someone who is addicted to gambling, stand by them as best you can, offering your prayer and guidance and pointing them to resources and people who can help them. WRITE LETTERS Sending a letter is a simple and effective way that can show your elected officials that Christians in their community want a stop to gambling expansion in your area. Let them know that local Christians are concerned for those addicted to gambling, and call on the government to consider the harm to addicts gambling causes even as they enjoy the revenue gambling generates. Get tips on effective letter writing here: SAMPLE LETTER Dear I am writing to express my deep concern over our community s (or province s) reliance on gambling revenues to fund our government and social services. While I acknowledge the millions of dollars in gambling revenue that flow into funding cultural and social institutions across the province, I call on you to acknowledge that a disproportionate amount of that revenue comes from the pockets of gambling addicts. If our social services could not continue without or would be seriously compromised by the loss of gambling revenue, then our community is as addicted to gambling as the man or woman who declares bankruptcy when all their money has been lost to the slots (or VLTs, or horses, or lottery). I urge you to intentionally study how our local government can better balance the needs of those who are hurt most by gambling, with the benefit from its revenues. I encourage you also to actively consider ways in which our community s financial reliance on gambling revenues can be gradually decreased to zero. Thank you. Sincerely, 7

8 HELPFUL SCRIPTURES Deuteronomy 8 In this chapter God warns the people of Israel, as they are about the enter the Promised Land, to remember that he led them through the desert and gave them the land, and to calls them to remain thankful for all he s done. Our response to what God has done for us in Jesus should echo the proper response of Israel to the Exodus from Egypt. Proverbs 28:12 A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. Luke 12:13-15 Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Jesus replied, Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? Then he said to them, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Luke 12:32-34 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Philippians 4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 8

9 Additional Resources: The Gambling Watch Network Canada A grassroots organization that provides resources and gathers gambling news stories from around the country into a weekly newsletter Game Over VLTs A grassroots campaign in Nova Scotia working to eliminate VLT s in that province. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse The CCSA has a number of recommended readings on the issue of gambling addiction available in English and French. Canadian Health Network - Gambling Resources Federal government resources to understand problem gambling and help gambling addicts fight their addiction. British Columbia Partnership for Responsible Gambling Provincial government resources for gambling addicts and their families. Alberta Gaming Research Institute The institute undertakes research studies of gambling in Alberta. They have links to Canadian gambling prevalence by province and territory, as well as American and other international studies. Addiction Foundation of Manitoba - Gambling Services AFM offers a provincial toll-free helpline for gambling addicts, as well as other resources and treatment options. Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre Another provincial research organization with a smaller scope than its Alberta counterpart. Responsible Gambling Council A list of treatment centres in Ontario for gambling addicts, as well as Gamblers Anonymous and Gam-Anon meeting locations across Canada. Nova Scotia Office of Health Promotion - Problem Gambling Services A list of government services for gambling addicts and their families in Nova Scotia. International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors The Centre at McGill University focuses on understanding youth gambling and other risk behaviour and undertakes research projects with this focus in mind. Endnotes 1 MLC Annual Report Highlights: Net Income by Product Segment. Noted here is the fact that VLT s brought in just over $179 million in net revenue. Accessed May 10, 2006 at 2 Katherine Marshall and Harold Wynne, Against the odds: A profile of at-risk and problem gamblers in Statistic Canada s Social Trends, Summer 2004 Number 73, p Rhys Stevens, Legalized Gambling in Canada. Prepared for the Alberta Gaming Research Institute, p. 1. Accessed May 4, 2006 at 4 Rhys Stevens, Legalized Gambling in Canada. pp Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency. Legislation. Accessed May 4, 2006 at 9