Single sports betting officially legal, but more needs to be done on the provincial level
A more than 10-year long struggle to legalize single-game sports betting has finally been achieved.
“It’s an opportunity not only for casino Caesar’s but for an opportunity for this country to grow up when it comes to responsible gambling,” said Windsor West NDP candidate Brian Masse, who long fought for the bill.
Many in the community celebrated the achievements of Masse’s former bill C218 becoming law on Friday.
“The reality is that today the hard work of Brian Masse, the hard work of NDP in the last 10 years and the parliament have now come to light,” said Ken Lewenza, former CAW national president.
“Now that single sports betting is law and in effect that means more potential jobs here in Windsor and definitely more options for our customers,” Dana Dunphy, Unifor Local 444 Caesars Windsor chair, said.
Although single sports betting is now officially federal law, provinces still need to step up regulations for the industry.
“We are passing the torch right now to the Province of Ontario and all the other provinces,” Masse said. “Every day that this does not become into fruition means around $2 million to organized crime.”
Windsor West MPP Liza Gretzky said they will continue to work with Unifor to push the province to “do the right thing.”
“To dream big and to get this done long before December happens. we cannot afford to continue to be behind other provinces when we know that this has been coming for months,” she said.
“This will allow us to be competitive in this difficult market especially being a border city with three resort casinos across the river,” Dunphy said.
She said they will continue to work with Masse and Gretzky on pushing the provincial government to get this moving as quick as possible.
“Our members need this to be operational now, we can’t wait any longer,” Dunphy said. “Michigan already has single sports betting in place. Unfortunately we are already behind the eight ball but hoping real soon to have it up and running and operational.”
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