Video lottery crusader sues N.S. government
Last Updated Tue, 21 Sep 2004 14:28:05 EDT
HALIFAX - A former gambling addict is suing the Nova Scotia government and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation for the damage done by video lottery terminals.
<TABLE cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=0 width=200 align=right hspace="4"><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>[font=verdana,arial]Video-Online Lottery Terminators Society logo.[/font]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Walsh, executive director of the Video-Online Lottery Terminators Society, wants compensation for the money he lost while playing the machines compulsively, as well as punitive damages, court costs, and money to cover the cost of future care he will need to cope with his addiction.
Walsh hopes his court action will turn into a class-action suit on behalf of gambling addicts.
"We talk about people that have been ruined financially, people that have lost marriages, people that have lost their homes, and right up to suicides," he said.
Among other things, he alleges that the government was negligent when it legalized the machines in 1991. Specifically, Walsh claims:
The government failed to take into consideration the devastating impact that VLTs would have on some people.
The province and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation failed to provide "adequate facilities and/or assistance for the treatment of addicted and/or problem gamblers."
<LI>The government was motivated by financial gain when it allowed the lottery corporation to introduce the machines in high-traffic areas such as bars, laundromats and convenience stores. Documents filed in court on Tuesday also call VLTs "an inherently dangerous product ... that should be viewed as an extraordinary peril" because "their ordinary use has led to addictive and/or problem gambling."
None of the allegations in the court documents has been proven in court. A hearing will be held to determine if the case will go forward.
Provincial Justice Minister Michael Baker called it a "highly unusual suit." He wouldn't comment on its merit, but said his department will examine the documents and prepare a defence.
There are 3,200 video lottery terminals in Nova Scotia, excluding those on native reserves. The province expects the machines to generate $175 million in revenue this year.
Marie Mullally, president of the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation, has acknowledged that half the money from the video terminals comes from 6,400 hard-core players who each pump more than $1,000 a month into the machines.
She also confirmed numbers from 2002, showing problem gambling was linked to 10 of 159 suicides.
Walsh's group has been lobbying for years to have the video terminals removed from Nova Scotia.
Last Updated Tue, 21 Sep 2004 14:28:05 EDT
HALIFAX - A former gambling addict is suing the Nova Scotia government and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation for the damage done by video lottery terminals.
<TABLE cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=0 width=200 align=right hspace="4"><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Walsh, executive director of the Video-Online Lottery Terminators Society, wants compensation for the money he lost while playing the machines compulsively, as well as punitive damages, court costs, and money to cover the cost of future care he will need to cope with his addiction.
Walsh hopes his court action will turn into a class-action suit on behalf of gambling addicts.
"We talk about people that have been ruined financially, people that have lost marriages, people that have lost their homes, and right up to suicides," he said.
Among other things, he alleges that the government was negligent when it legalized the machines in 1991. Specifically, Walsh claims:
The government failed to take into consideration the devastating impact that VLTs would have on some people.
The province and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation failed to provide "adequate facilities and/or assistance for the treatment of addicted and/or problem gamblers."
<LI>The government was motivated by financial gain when it allowed the lottery corporation to introduce the machines in high-traffic areas such as bars, laundromats and convenience stores. Documents filed in court on Tuesday also call VLTs "an inherently dangerous product ... that should be viewed as an extraordinary peril" because "their ordinary use has led to addictive and/or problem gambling."
None of the allegations in the court documents has been proven in court. A hearing will be held to determine if the case will go forward.
Provincial Justice Minister Michael Baker called it a "highly unusual suit." He wouldn't comment on its merit, but said his department will examine the documents and prepare a defence.
There are 3,200 video lottery terminals in Nova Scotia, excluding those on native reserves. The province expects the machines to generate $175 million in revenue this year.
Marie Mullally, president of the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation, has acknowledged that half the money from the video terminals comes from 6,400 hard-core players who each pump more than $1,000 a month into the machines.
She also confirmed numbers from 2002, showing problem gambling was linked to 10 of 159 suicides.
Walsh's group has been lobbying for years to have the video terminals removed from Nova Scotia.
