THE recommendations issued this week by B.C.'s gaming and enforcement branch that aim to steer the province's casinos away from cash are just a baby step on the road to combating money laundering.
The change to an electronic system would be an about-face from policies that encouraged the use of cash in casinos to deter problem gamblers from getting in over their heads on credit.
While that may sound like a nice idea, experience shows it is an ineffectual one. Gambling addicts continue to play themselves to ruin, while criminals take advantage of the policy to hide their illgotten gains.
Despite warnings from the RCMP, regulators have until recently taken a laissez-faire attitude to the issue. The enforcement branch's recommendations only underscore this. They suggest, for instance, that the province consult formally with other jurisdictions where gambling has a longer history to learn from their experience in combating the problem. Seems like it should have happened long ago.
The new document doesn't depart enough from this lethargic outlook. As critics have pointed out, there's nothing in the recommendations to compel the industry to switch from cash to electronic funds transfer. There's a reluctance to force the issue, even though, for legitimate gamblers, switching to an electronic system that leaves a paper trail shouldn't be a hardship.
That criminal activities are associated with casinos shouldn't be a surprise. That the province continues to be so slow to address the problem should be.
