Had it been approved, the bill would was noted the House’s Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Now, its hopes—and the hopes of single-game sports wagering within the country—are effectively dead for the foreseeable future.
New Democratic Party MP Brian Masse, who introduced the bill, had argued that the passage of the bill would have created jobs, helped fight organized crime, and contribute to provincial economies throughout Canada. “By defeating this legislation the Liberal Government just endorsed an unacceptable reality within the gaming sector in Canada. They're well conscious about the huge revenue stream sports wagering is providing organized crime to fund human trafficking, the illegal drug and weapons trade, money laundering and tax evasion,” MP Masse said Wednesday night.
The bill’s critics within the legislature had argued that passing the bill wouldn't effectively discourage illegal wagering and will exacerbate problem gaming issues within the country. The NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB all filed opposition letters in 2012 to Canada’s previous sports betting efforts.
The NBA retracted its opposition in 2015 to align more closely with its current stance on wagering. The opposite three leagues continued to keep up their opposition. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently told Bloomberg Surveillance that hockey doesn’t lend itself to betting like other sports do. His league, which has the biggest collection of franchises in Canada of any of the four North American leagues, wrote in 2012 that widespread sports betting legalization in Canada would threaten the integrity of NHL games.
Bettman has not taken that approach, however, with the town housing the NHL’s newest franchise: Las Vegas. The NHL awarded Sin City its first major professional franchise earlier, and said that any concerns the league had about gambling weren't in regards to the integrity of the game.
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