Use your influence to fix C-218.
Our letter to Hon. David Lametti, the former Minister of Justice under whom single-event sports betting became law, asking him to help ensure a national framework on sports-betting advertising is passed.
January 28, 2025
Hon. David Lametti, K.C.
Fasken
Montreal, QC
Dear Mr. Lametti:
This letter requests that you take appropriate actions to rectify the harms caused by Bill C-218 approved in 2020.
In your former role as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, you worked to effect what became Bill C-218, An act to amend the criminal code (sports betting), that was approved by Parliament and received Royal Assent on June 19, 2021. C-218 enabled the provincial and territorial governments to ‘conduct and manage a lottery scheme in the province that involves betting on a race — other than a horse-race — or fight, or on a single sport event or athletic contest.’
Whether intended or not, C-218 has unleashed a virtual tsunami of advertisements for sports betting and other forms of gambling. You cannot attend, walk to, or view on television a professional game without seeing countless ads. In one study, CBC Marketplace reported that sports broadcasts show on average 2.8 ads per minute, or 20% of the total viewing time. Those ads completely normalize sports betting, with no effective guardrails against the well documented boost that advertising gives to sports betting, nor the health harms.
Mental Health Research Canada reported last June that the risk of problem gambling in Canada is 7% among adults, 15% among youth 18 to 34. That's more than a million Canadians. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto reports that for every person addicted to gambling, another 6–10 are negatively affected. Gambling can lead to runaway debt, stress to families, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. It's particularly rampant among young men. Coaches and athletic directors say athletes are gambling away their tuition, meal and rent money.
Given your own responsibility for this situation, we ask you to take leadership in correcting it. While no longer active in national politics, you certainly have public profile and significant influence. We urge you to use that influence to ensure that federal legislation, such as Bill S-269, an act respecting a national framework on advertising for sports betting, which has been approved by the Senate, is eventually passed by Parliament and becomes law.
We would be pleased if you would meet with us to discuss this.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bruce Kidd and John Sewell
Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling