Nova Scotia considers online gambling

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is planning to introduce online gambling despite opposition from the Atlantic Lottery Corporation that is jointly by the four Atlantic provincial governments including New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia itself.

Finance Minister Graham Steele told the Chronicle Herald newspaper the introduction of online gambling was being developed as part of a new gaming strategy, but that it was not necessary for all four partners to agree on products offered. Last week Danny Williams, Newfoundland Premier, said he would vote against internet gambling in his province. Atlantic Lottery has an online site called PlaySphere, which allows people to buy lottery tickets and play interactive games.

British Columbia was the first province to introduce online gambling in Canada. It’s PlayNow.com site also became the first government-run online casino in North America offering sports betting, bingo and casino and lottery games. Poker is due to come online at a later stage. The site suffered a security breach in July and was immediately taken offline, however following an external review and an estimated CA$5m in total lost revenues, it was back online and available to players on 20 August.