British Columbia and Ontario aren’t the online provinces that are taking steps towards offering government-run online gambling websites. Now, Newfoundland is exploring the possibility, after announcing its plan to discuss the benefits of the activity.
Currently, all of the provinces who own the Atlantic Lottery Corporation are expressing interest in opening an online gambling website. However, they have been careful to not make any promises, although they have been actively discussing the option. This is because most provinces that are part of the ALC have openly stated that they want to offer online poker and online casino games online, but Newfoundland has yet to confirm its position.
“The Atlantic Lottery Corporation has indicated an interesting in getting into online gambling”, says Tom Marshall, Finance Minister for Newfoundland. “There are over 2000 illegal sites that people can access right now, and they want to offer responsible gambling”
However, when it comes to Newfoundland’s own opinion on the matter, Marshall says that the province is not yet sure whether or not it will offer the service. He states that they will consider it at some point in the future.
The project has the potential to generate more than $50 million a year for the Atlantic provinces, so it is unlikely that Newfound will resist much longer. The revenue earned from online gambling could be used for a wide array of services to benefit the people of Newfoundland.
