Montrealers would clearly not benefit if Loto-Québec obtained the green light to open its gaming hall at the Bell Centre, decrees the Regional Public Health Department in a notice that The Press obtained.
The gaming lounge project on the premises of the Taverne 1909 restaurant, a four-story building adjoining the Bell Center, in which Loto-Québec wanted to install 350 slot machines, represents a “substantial modification” of the gaming offering “in one of the busiest areas of Montreal,” underlines Public Health in a robust opinion of nearly 40 pages. The notice has been ready for over a month.
“We did a complete risk analysis,” explains Montreal’s public health director, Mylène Drouin, in an interview with The Press. And we arrive at a solid conclusion: the project as presented presents risks to the health of the population, risks sufficient to prevent us from recommending this project. »
“The Loto-Québec project is likely to reach and introduce a significant number of vulnerable players to the game with the associated impacts on health that we know about,” writes researcher Jean-François Biron, who wrote his opinion with the collaboration of other renowned researchers, notably Sylvia Kairouz, from Concordia University, and Annie-Claude Savard, from Université Laval.
“It’s a project that can encourage an introduction to the game,” underlines M.me Drouin. All the packaging that goes into this show can send a false sense of security to the people who are going to play. »
“Area of very high accessibility”
As for the projected reduction in video lottery terminals (ALV) put forward by Loto-Québec to sell its project, it does not change the situation at all, the report concludes. The state company proposed to move 350 machines from the Montreal casino to this new gaming hall, but also to remove approximately 500 machines spread across the island of Montreal.
The researchers modeled all the VLTs on the island on a map, using sophisticated software, simulating the contribution of a gaming hall. The Bell Center project would move the city center into a “very high accessibility” zone, while the reduction in devices proposed by Loto-Québec does not significantly reduce the supply elsewhere on the island.
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INFOGRAPHICS THE PRESS
Accessibility to VLTs by sector of Montreal as of May 2023
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INFOGRAPHICS THE PRESS
Accessibility to VLTs by sector of Montreal simulated taking into account the gaming lounge project in the city center
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“The idea of doing this modeling is to ask ourselves whether the change in overall offering is better than the status quo, or whether it increases physical access to the game,” summarizes Mylène Drouin. And the answer is clear: “we remove devices, but we move them to a place where each machine risks attracting more players, including risky players”.
In addition, a games lounge associated with the Montreal Canadiens environment establishes a “dynamic of normalization” of games of chance and money.
This is because a large proportion of the Montreal population, all generations combined, worship the team, some of whose players have left their mark on history. The Bell Center is also an important popular gathering space for culture and entertainment. In this context, it is highly likely that more individuals will learn about electronic gaming devices in this establishment.
Extract from the study carried out by Montreal Public Health
Consequently, not only does Public Health “not recommend” the establishment of a gaming hall in partnership with the CH Group, but it rather encourages Loto-Québec “to continue reducing the number of ALV sites as ‘observed since 2017 in Montreal by ceasing to grant operating permits for video lottery machines (ALV)’. Demand for this type of “street corner” game is clearly declining, says Mme Drouin.
“We must continue this momentum. »
More broadly, the opinion also recommends the establishment of an independent body for the supervision of games of chance and gambling in Quebec, which would have access to all the data and could carry out analyzes “enabling enlighten decision-makers”.