Catholic Gambling Ban Put on Hold in Edmonton
A controversial ban by the archbishop of Edmonton was put on hold, following complaints that Catholic schools need the funds raised from casino gambling.
Rev. Richard Smith issued an edict that the use of casino fundraising should come to a halt by October 1st this year, however Catholic schools asked that the ban be put off until they figured out how to replace the money.
The chair of the Edmonton Catholic Schools board, Debbie Engel said in a statement: "Until we have a strategy, a phase-out, the schools are continuing to fundraise."
The money collected from casino gambling - around $6 million every year and a half - is used to fund field trips and breakfast programs, as well equipment at schools such as computers.
Rev. Smith is adamant to go through with his plan eventually and said that he would be working with the school board to figure out how to get the funds from another source.
"As a Catholic institution, we ought not to be seeking to profit from any activities that we know, statistically, hurt people," he said.
He added that the challenging part for everybody is not so much the principle, but more the solution to the cash problem.
Commenting on the issue, Edmonton's Premier, Ed Stelmach, said that he was concerned about the fate of the breakfast programs at Catholic schools if the Board goes along with Rev. Smith's plan, but said that it was an issue that needed to be worked out between the two parties.
"Obviously, somewhere, there's a breakdown where families do depend on additional resources to feed their children before they come to school in the morning," said the Premier.
"That's a social issue," he added. "I don't think it's one tied to lottery."
