AG concerned Gambling Awareness Foundation not doing job
Posted Nov 5, 2015 06:20:04 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – The province’s Auditor General is concerned The Gambling Awareness Foundation of Nova Scotia isn’t fulfilling its mandate to assist problem gamblers, as $1 million in gambling profits sits unspent at the organization.
Michael Pickup wrote in his fall report despite the foundation being given $1.2 million over the past two years to create programs for problem gamblers and fund gambling research, only $200,000 has been spent with zero grants awarded in the past fiscal year.
“I think anytime an auditor raises the issue of an organization not fulfilling its mandate or what it’s set out to do, it does raise logical questions,” Pickup said Thursday. He noted because this wasn’t a specific performance audit of the foundation, he doesn’t know why the funds have not been spent.
Premier Stephen McNeil said after the report was tabled on Wednesday the government would be looking in to why the money had not been spent, and Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine said they were hoping have finalized spending plans by January.
Opposition parties accused the government of ignoring problem gamblers at a time when lottery profits are on the rise.
“It’s unacceptable,” NDP Leader Maureen MacDonald said. “That’s a lot of money that could be, and should be invested in education, treatment and prevention.”
Progressive Conservative Finance Critic Tim Huston echoed those sentiments in the legislature on Wednesday, accusing the government of taking advantage of a vulnerable population.
“You think of the current environment in the province with the cancellation of the My-Play system, discussion around problem gambling, here we have a foundation that’s set up to help address those issues and apparently is doing nothing,” Huston said.
The Liberals have been previously criticized for cancelling the My-Play program, which was set up by the previous NDP government to address addictions to Video Lottery Terminals. Since the programs cancellation, the province has seen a rise in its gaming revenue.
