Single-game sports betting about to become legal after Senate passes bill
Betting on single games of football, hockey and other sports is about to become legal in Canada, with provinces poised to pounce on the forthcoming federal law.
The Senate has approved Bill C-218, a private member's bill that amends Criminal Code provisions around gambling on single sports games -- currently illegal except for horse racing -- in a bid to win back customers from offshore sites, U.S. casinos and illegal bookmakers.
The upper chamber approved the bill Tuesday by a vote of 57-20. It now awaits royal assent to become law.
Conservative MP Kevin Waugh's bill garnered renewed enthusiasm from legislators in all four main parties, and marks the third time a would-be law with the same goal has blazed a trail through Parliament -- but never this far.
Similar legislation zipped through the House of Commons with all-party support nearly a decade ago but foundered in the Senate and died when an election was called in 2015.
A second attempt by New Democrat MP Brian Masse also failed after the then-Liberal majority voted down his private member's bill in concert with Conservatives in 2016.
The Liberals then rolled the dice last November with their own legislation, which they subsequently dropped when Waugh agreed to incorporate its protections for the horse-racing industry into his bill.
The bill passed the House with multi-party support in February.
The legislation has been embraced by the Canadian Football League, National Hockey League and other professional sports. It has also garnered tentative support from a tight-knit equestrian community that remains wary of casinos and foreign gambling sites encroaching on its turf.
Conservative Sen. David Wells, who sponsored the bill in the upper house, predicted that legally allowing Las Vegas-style betting on single games would eat into the multibillion-dollar black market and redirect that revenue into provincial government coffers.
Currently, he told the Senate during final debate last week, "Canadians are placing billions of dollars worth of bets annually through these (offshore) sites, that go entirely unregulated in Canada."
Provincial governments, which regulate gambling in Canada, have been clamouring for single-event betting to be legalized, Wells added, arguing that they stand to reap billions in revenue that could be used to support addiction research, health care, education and other priorities.
Several provinces are gearing up to seize on the pent-up revenue streams.
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation is "positioned to allow single-event wagering online almost immediately" via PlayNow.com, said Travis Paterson, a spokesman for B.C.'s Public Safety Ministry.
Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey said in an interview the province plans "to land the framework by this fall" and implement the new regulations and licensing rules before the year is out.
Changes allowing wagerers to bet on a sole game of the B.C. Lions or Toronto Maple Leafs -- however long the odds -- require regulatory tweaks at the provincial level, but no legislative amendments, easing the path to single-event gambling.
More than two dozen U.S. states have moved to legalize single-event sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban in 2018, potentially siphoning off customers from Ontario casinos in Windsor and Niagara Falls.
Waugh has said the main goal of Bill C-218 is to level the track globally against large foreign sites such as Bet365 and Bodog that garner more than $4 billion from Canadian bettors each year, according to the Canadian Gaming Association.
Casinos might also benefit, but B.C. and Ontario say single-game wagers will not be confined to the casino floor.
The CFL said in a statement that the bill's clearance of both chambers "will move sports wagering out of the shadows and into the light of day where it belongs."
TheScore, which operates a popular North American betting app, pegs the market for online gaming in Canada between US$4.3 billion and US$5.4 billion in annual revenue.
"All of these tax dollars are floating up to heaven," John Levy, chairman and CEO of the Toronto-based company, said in an interview.
Gamblers will be much more eager to lay down money on individual games rather than just Proline-style betting -- "parlays" where they wager on fixed odds around two or more games -- he said.
"When you think about people betting on sports ... it basically is, `Well who do you like tonight? Are you gonna bet the Jays or you gonna bet the Yankees?"' said Levy, whose app competes with casinos and online sports betting giants such as New York-based FanDuel and Boston-based DraftKings.
Not everyone was so enthusiastic.
More than 20 senators voted in favour of a pair of amendments that failed to pass over the past week. The proposed changes would have sent the bill back to the Commons for further consideration, potentially cementing its defeat as MPs prepare to rise for the summer break on Wednesday -- their autumn return remains in doubt ahead of a likely election.
"This piece of legislation has many tentacles that could have been and should have been looked at more closely," said Sen. Vern White, a member of the Canadian Senators Group who put forward an amendment last week calling for match fixing to be listed as a crime.
The initial aim of the federal ban on single-event sports bets was to curtail match fixing -- it's easier to scheme when there's just one game to manipulate -- but it became increasingly ineffective amid the rise of offshore betting sites.
Sen. Brent Cotter, a member of the Independent Senators Group, said Supreme Court precedent and legal opinions provided to a Senate committee make it "crystal clear" that Criminal Code provisions on fraud and "cheating at play" already cover match fixing.
The risk of manipulation lingers at lower levels such as minor league hockey or baseball, he said, where players earn far less than their big-league counterparts, making the need to pull gambling from the clutches of the black market all the more urgent.
"There is a risk that players would be susceptible to being bribed to throw a match. And then they get drawn into a culture where they get blackmailed into keep doing it more," Cotter said in an interview.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawa:ke had also called for tweaks to allow Indigenous entities to manage a lottery scheme, including sports betting. Independent Sen. Mary Jane McCallum tabled an amendment in that vein that was defeated Monday by a vote of 43-21.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2021.
With files from Joan Bryden
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Local Spotlight
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Investigating the tale of Winnipeg's long-running mystery bookstore
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
'Love has no boundaries': Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.