Skip Triplett is in an unenviable position. The pleasant, white-haired former academic leader has been on a tough tour of B.C. listening to non-profit organizations' gripes about gaming grant disbursement.
He's inherited quite a mess. Everywhere he goes, people turn out in droves to voice their laundry list of complaints for him to boil down and report back to the province.
It's about time the province listened - it seems we've become so accepting of gambling we've forgotten why we allow it to exist in the first place. It's time to bring the focus back to what matters.
As it stands, the province is increasingly impeding community groups' path to gambling revenue. New rules force non-profits to go through the rigorous application process every year, keeping organizers in the dark over budgetary requirements, and leaving many penniless for a portion of each year.
On top of that, groups banking a safety net of emergency funds are automatically cut off from eligibility, effectively punishing them for being fiscally prudent.
Also angering many is a bureaucratic process that seems purposely (or at least unnecessarily) baffling, making it easy to see that community groups' needs are nowhere near a top priority for BC Lottery Corp.
Just like any company, the Crown Corporation is tasked with increasing its revenue, and they use every marketing means available to do just that.
Giving it away is the government's job.
But a universal grievance is that while gambling revenue does nothing but increase - in 2010-11, $53.6 million was spent at Treasure Cove, up by nearly $3 million from 2009-10 - community groups feel they are getting a smaller cut of the profits.
There's been a worrying trend of slashing funds to needy groups while casinos - of all places - get their transfer payments back to fix up their venues.
So a glitzy facility gets money to add more bells and lights to entice gamblers while a seniors support group barely scrapes enough together to feed its needy clients. Very bad optics.
We seem to have forgotten there's a reason gambling is allowed in B.C. despite evidence it's addictive and can ruin lives, and organized crime types use it to launder money: revenue is supposed to support the province's needy, many of those through non-profit groups.
As Triplett has already discovered, community groups are not happy and improvements are sorely needed. If all goes according to plan, Triplett's report and recommendations should be implemented before the next round of applications are due.
Not a moment too soon.
-- Prince George Citizen
