There’s still much work to be done.
That’s what B.C. Attorney General David Eby told Mayor George Harvie in a recent letter responding to concerns raised by Harvie about money laundering in casinos as well as organized crime.
Harvie met with Eby at last September’s Union of B.C. Municipalities convention to discuss the issue and subsequently sent a letter as well.
Eby responded by going over the steps his government is taking and noted that further collaboration with Delta will be important moving forward.
Eby noted the recommendations from the Peter German Report are helping the government craft actions on the issue of money laundering and that his ministry received a commitment from the solicitor general for ongoing support of the Joint Illegal Gaming Investigations Team’s mandate, which will be reviewed in the next several months to determine what can be accomplished in its five-year scope.
Listing the casino transactions rules the government now has in place, Eby also noted they’ve updated the provincial civil forfeiture legislation to target and seize proceeds of crime.
“While these actions are a good first step, I acknowledge there is still much work to be done,” he wrote.
His letter also stated the Lower Mainland “has been greatly impacted by this criminal activity and I agree that we urgently need more federal resources to ensure proper enforcement.”
The new Cascades Casino Delta is currently under construction and is to open later next year.
What isn’t clear is the province could move toward making the facility a so-called “cashless casino”, a proposal put forward by Harvie last year as a way to help combat money laundering.
He cited New Zealand as a successful example of a jurisdiction that moved towards cashless casinos, offering card-based and ticket-based options for responsible gambling.
