Gambling news from http://winnipegsun.com/
Manitoba Lotteries Corp. is violating the province's gambling advertising rules by depicting two men playing poker in a pull-out ad included in weekend newspapers.
It's not the first time it's happened. And it's further proof the Doer government is actively urging Manitobans to gamble.
Provincial rules prohibit gaming facilities -- including government-owned casinos -- from showing people gambling in advertising pieces.
Despite that, MLC -- a provincial Crown corporation -- distributed an eight-page, coloured insert in Winnipeg newspapers on the weekend showing two men dressed as Winnipeg Blue Bombers playing poker under the heading "Poker & Pigskin Playdown."
The government ad promotes a poker tournament at Club Regent Casino where bonus prizes include tickets to Blue Bombers games.
Laughable
"Obviously the motivation to promote gambling and to rake in as much revenue as possible seems to have overtaken their own sense of propriety and caution when it comes to their advertising campaign," said Tory Opposition Leader Hugh McFadyen.
I'll say.
The Doer government has claimed for years that they don't believe government should advertise or promote gambling -- which is laughable given the amount of casino advertising they do.
Most casino ads in recent years, though, have carefully avoided showing people gambling, opting instead for generic casino shots and pictures of live entertainment.
Although several years ago the government was caught depicting people playing slots and table games in provincial tourist magazines. They defended the move, arguing the ads targeted tourists, not Manitobans. Right.
A native-run casino in The Pas ran a newspaper ad in 2002 depicting people gambling which they were later forced to pull.
The ad on the weekend goes even further. Not only are they depicting two guys playing poker, they're using our community-owned football team to help promote gambling. How nice.
Ante up, kids -- poker is fun for the whole family.
When asked about the ad yesterday, Gaming Minister Scott Smith's office confirmed it violates the province's advertising rules and said steps are now being taken to find out what went wrong.
"Clearly a mistake was made," said Charlie McDougall, a spokesman for Smith. "It's our understanding that there will be a review undertaken to find out what happened and to ensure it doesn't happen again."
I've heard that one before.
The province says it has strict rules prohibiting depiction of people gambling in ads. But they don't enforce it until a newspaper columnist calls them on it. They can't be very serious about the policy.
MLC spokeswoman Susan Olynik says Lotteries simply made a mistake. "We did review it (yesterday) and we did make an error," said Olynik. "We do have checks and balances in place at Manitoba Lotteries to ensure that we do follow the advertising guidelines, but in this particular circumstance, it didn't work."
It's beyond me how a full-page shot of two guys playing poker circulated by the tens of thousands over the weekend could just "slip through the cracks."
The truth is, government not only operates casinos and rakes in tens of millions a year from VLTs, they promote it, too.
They actively urge Manitobans to gamble and sell it as a desirable form of entertainment, a fact they continue to deny.
I just wish they would stop lying about it.
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