Investigation into gambling-related suicide data shows tracking of deaths lags while governments ignore risks to chase industry profits

With increased focus on gambling-suicide links in countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, and with strategizing at the federal level to reduce suicides overall, there is pressure on lawmakers to rethink Canada’s approach to GRS [gambling-related suicide]. Questions remain about whether provinces have done enough to track and prevent deaths.

Survey data released last week by the charitable research organization Mental Health Research Canada suggests 60 per cent of people at high risk of gambling problems reported that ads influenced them to gamble more.

The widespread cultural acceptance of legalized gambling is connected to viewing gambling as a personal choice, neglecting the addictive nature of the heavily-promoted gaming options and ignoring the dire financial and mental health consequences for those who become addicted — a view pushed through marketing and industry lobbying efforts.

This underlying risk seems at odds with the continued expansion and availability of legalized gambling across Canada, including legal single-sports betting in every province, two recently-opened casino resorts in the Greater Toronto Area, and more than 80 new legal online casinos in Ontario through its iGaming Ontario provincial agency.

  • @[email protected]English
    7•2 days ago

    Biggest promoter behind this crap:

    https://www.catenamedia.com/

    They own a lot of sites that push traffic towards gambling. They are full of themselves about how ethical they are but every C level meeting is full of “Do now, ask for forgiveness later” and every ethical rule they have for themselves quite literally only exists to wipe bums. They push CA and US governments hard to allow sports (and later all types of) gambling because they’re basically the professional promoters of gambling.

    I worked there at a high level, and even though I didn’t do much during my tenure there, I do feel ashamed for being a part of it all, they’re the worst. They push this ethical gambling website but there is no such thing and they know it because they’ve said so multiple times. It is such a shameful scam, really.