The bill to legalize single-sports betting is one step closer to being passed.
The private member's bill C-218 passed unanimously in the House of Commons Justice Committee on Thursday.
It will go to the House of Commons for the final debate in April. This is the third attempt to legalize single-event sports betting since 2011.
"The two previous times it started as just an NDP bill and we built cross-party support over time but it never got over the goal line either by being killed by the unelected Senate or not making it out of the House for partisan reasons,” M.P. Brian Masse stated. “As demonstrated in the HOC’s Justice Committee’s unanimous vote today we have growing support to deal with the real challenge to our sector from United States."
If the bill passes in the House of Commons it will then go for a vote in the Senate.
Unifor Local 444 estimates the passing of this bill could create 150 jobs at Caesars Windsor alone. The gaming sector supports about 250,000 jobs in Canada's entertainment industry.
It's estimated organized crime makes $10-billion from single-event sports betting in Canada.
