Quebec Strengthens Government Control On Online Gambling

The Canadian province of Quebec has taken two steps to consolidate online casino gambling through its Loto Quebec. One of them is a positive step, while the other proposal has drawn opposition.

Loto Quebec has entered into a contract with Scientific Games. This will enable SG Interactive to provide real money wagering content to the Loto Quebec operated online gambling site Espacejeux. Through Scientific Games Loto Quebec will also receive access to a number of gaming providers such as Shuffle Master, Barcrest, Bally and Williams, making their online games available to all gambling enthusiasts in Quebec. Loto Quebec's general manager said, “The addition of online real money game content from SG Interactive will allow us to strategically tap into the full breadth of offerings from Scientific Games.” Jordan Levin, President of Interactive at Scientific Games also released his statement. He praised Loto Quebec for being at the forefront of regulated gaming in North America and therefore SG Interactive was thrilled to provide a robust library of online real money game content for EspaceJeux. SG Interactive already has contracts with the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario through their lottery corporations and now reaches out to the majority of Canadian online gamers.

The Finance Minister of Quebec Carlos Leitao has tabled legislation on the implementation of the provincial budget. The province aims to amend the local Consumer Protection Act by allowing for instructions to Internet service providers to block "unauthorized gambling sites." Any online gambling site that is not approved by Loto-Quebec will be considered "unauthorized". Internet service providers will receive an approved list and all others will have to be blocked. The province forecasts additional online gambling revenues of $13.5 million in 2016-2017 for the government site, Espacejeux.

Timothy Denton, chairman of the Internet Society Canadian chapter, said that this move is nothing but censorship and it is in the interest of enhancing the province’s gambling monopoly. It will set a dangerous precedent. Denton added that the move is illegal as well because Quebec does not have the authority to regulate the Internet in this way. Bram Abramson, chief legal and regulatory officer for independent ISP TekSavvy Solutions Inc., said that it would add considerable costs to the Internet service providers. The problem is that there are simple ways of getting around such access blocking so the whole exercise would be futile as well. Nathalie Roberge, spokeswoman for the Finance Minister, responded by claiming that the provincial government has the jurisdiction to regulate all gambling activities. She added that there was no timeline for the proposed legislation and it would be studied and debated first.

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