Our measure of skin in the game

Here's an item that flew under the radar, while Canadians were obsessing with the U.S. presidential election, feeling slightly worried that we haven't been very excited about the World Series, or sitting back to ponder if we really miss NHL hockey all that much.

Barring a last-minute change of heart in the Senate, Canada is about to legalize a new form of gambling. Bill C-290 is a private member's bill that has already cleared Parliament and two readings in Senate. It will allow the provinces to issue betting forms for single game events.

That means you may soon be able to go to your local lottery kiosk, lay down a toonie or two and risk your hard-earned cash on the outcome of each game in the Stanley Cup playoffs (six of them this season, presumably). That's instead of going online and making the same bet with a bookie operating a computer server and bank accounts in a place where nobody checks financial statements.

Betting of this type isn't legal in most of the United States, except for Gomorrah, which they call Nevada.

Every party supports this bill – a private member's bill couldn't clear Parliament otherwise. Apparently, the NDP likes single-event gambling as a job-creation enterprise. Those would be jobs where people declare their incomes and pay their taxes.

It's safe to say the Conservatives like the bill because it fights crime, and keeps more money inside our economy.

Here's what's really funny, at least two professional sports leagues in Canada don't want this made legal: Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League.

The Globe and Mail reported that two MLB executives appeared before the Senate Wednesday to argue against passing that crucial third reading. They say that any increase in betting on single games would increase the likelihood pressures being brought on players to throw games, or shave points.

The unknown billions currently being wagered through web sites offered by organized crime groups have not been enough to do so, but a guy like me putting a fool's dollar on the Edmonton Eskimos could just to the trick. That's their premise, and they're sticking to it.

NHL executives apparently are looking for an opportunity to say the same things, if they could only pull themselves away from the bargaining table for long enough.

Paul Beeston, president of the Toronto Blue Jays said fans with skin in the game may become suspicious of "every strikeout or error, and the game's integrity would be open to question, play by play."

I say, if you had one room full of MPs and Senators, and owners of pro baseball and hockey teams in another, which group would arouse your suspicions most?

The feds have the least to gain by passing this law. Gambling is a provincial matter. In Alberta, our taxes would have to be raised by $1.4 billion this year alone, if gambling proceeds were not put into general revenues.

Red Deer has schools being built, roads being upgraded, and bike lanes removed, paid for in part by gambling profits.

I'm not in favour of legalized gambling, any more than I am of prostitution or marijuana sales – at least not as drivers of employment. But I'm a whole lot less in favour of these activities being the revenue base of criminals. That aspect is already costing me a whole lot of money I'd rather keep or have government spend on something else.

There is already a history of criminal groups sullying the reputations of people involved in pro sports. Enough said there.

Played through government offices, at least some of the revenue can be used to mitigate the damage caused by gambling in the first place. And better single game betting, than video lottery machines.