Nova Scotia Government to Manage Gambling
Following decisions made regarding the Nova Scotia government's gambling strategy last year, it was decided that the managing of gambling will become a direct responsibility of the government.
On Monday, it was announced that changes will be made to the Canadian province's Gaming Control Act, bringing the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp under the auspices of the Communities, Culture and Heritage Department of the government.
The minister for this department, David Wilson, said that tighter government control on the corporation will give the government a better oversight as to how gambling is managed in Nova Scotia. In addition, he predicted that the streamlining could result in a saving of costs in the long run.
Wilson said that the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation will now be known as the Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corp.
The new entity will have a new board which will be made up of senior deputy ministers from important local government departments. These include ministers from Health and Finance departments in the government.
Wilson said that the government wanted to ensure that all those departments who are affected by gambling are present around the new table of the new board.
Restructuring Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation
Bringing the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation under the wings of the government has the potential to create accountability, but many were more concerned with the future of the 17 workers who are currently employed by the corporation.
Minister Wilson said this week that while there were not current plans to end their employment with the corporation, he wanted to examine ways to save costs through the reorganization.
"We'll be working with the board to see what the makeup of the corporation would be and if we can find some savings, we're going to find some savings," he said.
Building up Nova Scotia Gambling Industry
According to gambling researcher John McMullan from St. Mary's University, commenting on the Nova Scotia government control on gambling, the government's changes to its current gambling authority comes in recognition of the fact that it is not in need of a body which is situated at arms length, with the sole objective of building up Nova Scotia's gambling industry.
"It really puts government officials squarely into the gambling arena in policy terms," he said regarding the corporation joining the provincial government.
