Accountable Gambling in the Public Interest

1. Accountable Gambling in the Public Interest Alberta Gaming Research Institute-April 2008 Dr. Garry Smith & Dan Rubenstein CA, MA Funded By: Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre --

2. Contents • Accountability 101 • Research Methodology • Research Findings • There Are Attributes of Commercial Gambling Worth Noting • Compared to other Government Goods & Services • Accountability Implications of Attributes of Commercial Gambling • There Are Accountability Gaps: Ontario Regime • Operating and Regulatory Regime in Ontario • Observed Gaps • Need for Model: Accountable Gambling in the Public Interest • Questions for Citizens • Need for Further Research

3. Accountability 101 • Definition of Accountability • Westminster Model Parliamentary Democracy: • Ministerial Responsibility/Collective Responsibility of Cabinet • Foundation: Enabling Legislation • Accountability Process: • Role of Executive Branch & Legislative Assembly (Basis of Accountability Relationship) • Ministers Render an Account • Parliament Holds Ministers to Account • Accountability Gap: Significant Unanswered Questions in Accountability Relationship

4. Research Methodology • Researchable Questions: • 1. Are There Attributes of Commercial Gambling That Create Gambling Specific Accountability Requirements and Public Expectations? • 2. Does Legislative and Policy Foundation in Ontario Provide a Reasonable Basis to Hold A Government to Account, Given These Gambling Specific Accountability Needs? • Scope: Enabling Legislation, Policy Framework for Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) and Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). • Methodology: • Analysis of What Is: • Analysis of Enabling Legislation, Policies • Structured Interviews: Regulator, Operator and Policy Makers in Ontario • Consideration of What Could Be • Identify Accountability Gaps/Questions for Citizens?

5. Question 1: Attributes of Commercial Gambling • Morally Contested Industry* • Gambling is Not an Essential Service* • Unlike Other Forms of Entertainment* • Gambling is Hazardous to Some* • Application of Consumer Protection Laws is Unclear • Contractual Arrangements With Powerful Special Interests • Risk of Creating Financial Dependency • Independent Oversight Challenges • Lack of Jurisprudence & Definitions of Key Terms* • Unintended Effects of Policy Implementation Are Largely Invisible

6. Question 1:Gambling Specific Accountability Implications • 1. Morally Contested Industry: • Need for Objective, Credible and Complete Data on Costs & Benefits. • 2. Not an Essential Service: • Need for Evidence Based Case (Public Domain) How Gambling Is in the Public Interest. • 3. Unlike Other Forms of Entertainment: • Need for Disclosure: Market Stimulation, Unintended Effects, %of Revenue from Problem Gamblers (By Type of Gambling).

7. Question 1: Gambling Specific Accountability Implications (Con’t) • 4. Gambling is Hazardous to Some: • Need for Data On How Different Types of Gambling Affect the Vulnerable; Efficacy in Protecting Vulnerable. • Need for Statutory Clarity--Do Principles of Informed Consent, Precautionary Principle or Duty of Care Apply to Gov’t. as Regulator and Operator? • 9. Lack of Jurisprudence & Definitions of Key Terms: • Clarity of Meaning--Social Responsibility, Duty of Care, Informed Consent in Commercial Gambling.

8. Operating and Regulatory Regime: Ontario

9. Accountability Gaps: Issues to Be Clarified in Accountability Relationship • Enabling Legislation: • Operator: Accountability to Act in Public Interest in Accordance with Principles of Honesty, Integrity and Social Responsibility (OLGCA Largely Silent)? • Ministers’ (Operator & Regulator) Accountability for Harm Minimization and Mitigation (Acts and Policies Largely Silent)? • Operator & Regulator: What does Social Responsibility Mean (Lack of Definition, Jurisprudence)?

10. Accountability Gaps: Issues to Be Clarified in Accountability Relationship (Con’t.) • Policy Framework: • Explicit Chain of Accountability for Results that Links Explicit Mission Statement, Objectives, Defined Terms and Core Principles to Public Interest? • Should there be Reference to Accountability for Adherence to: • Precautionary Principle? • Informed Consent? • Duty Of Care? • Silent: Transparency About Rationale for Policy Decisions, Including Trade-offs Between Revenue Generation and Adherence to Core Principles. Should There Be a Disclosure Requirement? • Expectations on When Periodic Informed Public Consultation Is Required (Policy and Statutes Silent)? • Should There be Sectoral Accountability for Oversight of Whole System of Commercial Gambling (Accountability for Regulation, Silent on System Oversight)?

11. Need for Model: Accountable Gambling in Public Interest • Difficult for a Citizen to Know if Public Interest Served by Commercial Gambling: • Need for an Evidence Based Case Showing Public Interest Served by Commercial Gambling (i.e. Net Benefit). • Incomplete Basis to Hold Ministers to Account for Regulation & Operation: • Limited Basis to Assess if Doing Enough: Harm Minimization and Mitigation (Addiction), Duty of Care, Informed Consent?

12. Questions for Citizens • How Does a Government Know and Prove to Citizens That: • Gambling Is a Net Benefit to Community? • The Vulnerable Are Adequately Protected? • The Games Are Fair, the Odds Are Reasonable? • There is Enough Distance Between Government and the Gambling Industry; No Perception of Undue Influence on Government Policy for Commercial Gambling?

13. Need for Future Research • Accountability Focus Transcends Pro and Anti-Gambling Debate. • Accountability Information is the Grist of Democracy. Relatively Unexplored Research Area. • Addressing Accountability Gaps Can Lead to More Informed Discussion During Policy Development and Implementation on Intended and Unintended Effects? • Phase II: Develop and Field Test Model of Accountable Gambling in the Public Interest