A Quebec court's decision to have casinos reveal information about on-site suicides was hailed by anti-gambling activists, addicts and family members on Thursday.
The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the lottery commission, Loto-Quebec, must make public all internal investigations and ambulance reports that could be related to suicides at the province's three casinos.
The result upheld a 2005 Quebec Superior Court decision that stated the lottery commission must respect an Access to Information request put forward by Bill Clennett, an anti-poverty activist.
Clennett had requested an array of incident reports and administrative paperwork from Loto-Quebec, but the commission challenged the order.
"We will have serious information for the first time in the country, because it's never been produced before," lawyer Jean-Carol Boucher said Thursday.
Six years ago Daniel Naudi killed himself in a Montreal casino garage after losing all his money.
His son, Danyk Naudi, says his father deliberately chose the place of his death.
"He told me that 'they said that's my problem. And I want make them pay for that. So everyone's going to know what happened,'" Naudi told CTV Montreal.
Loto-Quebec insists that Naudi's death is the only suicide to happen on a casino property since 1998. But many doubt the claim.
The provincial coroner's office linked 32 of the 1,172 suicides in 2004 to pathological gambling.
"For years, the Montreal casino has been in denial that there are suicides," said anti-gambling activist Sol Boxenbaum. "There isn't a casino in North America that doesn't have that as part of their problem."
Loto-Quebec fought to keep the reports private, saying that giving away details about internal investigations could compromise security and benefit organized crime.
It was a stance the court of appeal rejected without even hearing from the lawyers representing Loto-Quebec.
Loto-Quebec representatives said they will comply with the decision.
A link between gambling and suicide
Clennett -- better known as the activist choked by Jean Chretien in February, 1996 -- has called for greater transparency from Loto-Quebec in order to determine whether there is a link between gambling and suicide.
Pierre Desjardins is the author of "The Black Book of Loto-Quebec." He believes Quebec covers up suicides because if the public knew, they would stay away.
"They are in the business of creating gambling addicts, even if it breaks up families and forces people to kill themselves," he told CTV Montreal.
Three years ago, Did Belizaire was thousands of dollars in debt. After a night of big losses, he tried to commit suicide by jumping off of the Jacques Cartier Bridge. The former gambler is now confined to a wheelchair.
He is pleased that the courts are insisting the information be made public.
"I honestly think that the public needs to know that so they can, you know, one way or the other, make we are going to have a choice to make," Belizaire said.
The government estimates there are between 35,000 and 56,000 potential pathological gamblers in the province.
The provincial gambling commission claims it spent $27.5 million last year to battle compulsive gambling. In 2006-07, Loto-Quebec contributed $1.6 billion to government coffers.
With a report from CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie
