The Editor"
Re: BCLC board chair's letter in response to my Feb. 14 submission to Tri-City News:
While BCLC may meet "advertising standards," and monies raised are put to some benefit for people in B.C., I think Greg Moore misses the point.
Greg Moore does not equate BCLC ads with the other ads from gambling sites on TV (Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid have unfortunately done commercials for online betting) as no celebrities are used to promote BCLC products (lottery tickets).
(Perhaps so, but well-known TV sports commentators, while not celebrities per se, are frequently used to advertise. These commentators are well recognized, and can influence people, and especially younger viewers).
The sale of BCLC products contributes to the problem of gambling, in my opinion, whether funds are allocated to worthwhile ventures in B.C. or not.
We have all seen BCLC ads featuring a tour of a spectacular waterfront property with luxury home as prize, as if that is going to happen for the typical purchaser of a lottery ticket.
That is, people are encouraged through advertising to gamble with purchase of BCLC products (lottery tickets).
Promoting "safer" gaming does not eliminate unsafe gaming.
It promotes expansion of gaming. (Call it gambling rather than "playing" or "gaming" because that is what the activity really is.)
Very misleading.
Disappointing.
Problem gambling remains just that: problem gambling.
Again, I'm not seeking Prohibition; simply, that advertising gambling should not be permitted.
Soft regulation of the advertising of gambling — as Greg Moore appears to be suggesting and defending — is not the answer to relieving the public health issue identified by the Statistics Canada study I mentioned in my initial letter of Feb. 14.
- Steve Vandervelden, Port Coquitlam
