Gambling comes up snake eyes for BC Ferries

BC Ferries won't be adding gambling
options to the fleet of vessels
after review of proposal  

Those that were hoping to while away the hours on BC Ferries by playing the slots will have to bring a good book instead, the BC Government announced on Monday that after a review, they will not be introducing gambling to the BC Ferries fleet.

The decision follows a review from the Ministry of Transportation, making use of a business analysis from the British Columbia Lottery Corporation that determined that introducing gambling options to the BC Ferries fleet would not provide for any additional revenue and in fact would end up providing a loss, costing the BC Ferries 240,000 dollars for additional staffing, IT requirements and equipment purchases.

“British Columbians have told the government to explore new and innovative ways to keep ferry fare increases affordable, which is why we explored the idea of introducing gaming on the BC Ferries. While the BC Lottery Corporation’s analysis showed that this idea wouldn’t make money, we’ll remain open to other revenue-generating services. We’re encouraged by the ferry commissioner’s recent preliminary price-cap ruling, which confirms that progress is being made in breaking the back on unaffordable fare increases and getting them in line with long-term inflation.” -- Todd Stone, BC Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure on the decision to abandon the idea of adding gambling options to BC Ferries vessels

Other issues that the review examined included concerns over potential security related incidents when it came to disputes over game outcomes, thefts with the review noting that the BC Ferries would not have access to police services until docked, requiring on board staff to manage any
potential situations including detention of any problem individuals.

Review says NO to slots of
BC Ferries fleet

There was also a concern expressed that children could end up being left unattended should when their parents or guardians were to be in the gaming facility.

A potential reduction in revenue to be returned to BC Ferries was also examined, with the prospect of having to reach an accommodation with the State of Washington for the main routes of the fleet to the south and prospect of having to share any revenues with the State.

You can review some of the background from the Government's decision here.

Monday's announcement has provided for the province's headline writers to pull out their thesauruses and explore any number of colourful ways to express the decision against gambling on the boats, you can find some of those below:

Vancouver Sun -- Proposal to allow gambling on BC Ferries declared a loser
Vancouver Province -- Government Folds on plans for gambling on Ferries
Victoria News -- Ferry gambling idea jettisoned as money-loser
Georgia Straight -- B. C. Ferries won't become a floating casino chain, province says
The Tyee -- BC Gov't abandons Pitch for Slot Gambling on Ferries
BIV -- No payoff on gambling on BC Ferries after province cancels pilot program
CBC -- BC Ferries slot machines plan scrapped by government
CKNW News -- Gambling not in the cards for BC Ferries
News 1130 -- Don't expect to play the slots on BC Ferries
CHEK News -- Government scraps plan for gambling pilot project on BC Ferries

Cross posted from the North Coast Review