GamblersPost Gamblers Post is a dedicated news and networking portal in the online gambling industry which features news, opinions, interviews as well as product and software reviews.
Canadian Conservative Party Member of Parliament Kevin Waugh introduced a bill aiming to legalize single event sports betting in the North American country.
“Let me be clear that single-event sport wagering already exists in this country, and if members do not think so, they are behind the curtains,” Waugh said when introducing the bill. “The Canadian single-event sport wagering industry is worth over $14 billion, but most of it, 95% of it, exists underground on the black market or through offshore websites.”
The proposed new bill aims to repeal paragraph 207(4)(b) of the Canadian Criminal Code to allow gambling operators to offer betting on a single sport event or athletic contest. Currently the Criminal Code states that only bets on at least three games or more are legal.
Bill C-218, short-titled as the ”Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act”, aims to repeal this restriction, and to allow provincial and federal governments to tap into an illegal market Waugh estimated to be worth around CAD$14bn.
The proposed bill summary: “This enactment repeals paragraph 207(4)(b) of the Criminal Code to make it lawful for the government of a province, or a person or entity licensed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council of that province, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in the province that involves betting on a race or fight or on a single sport event or athletic contest”.
