Most of the sins we have, like smoking, snuff and drinking beer, the government taxes; the idea is that if you tax something it will have some effect on people's behaviour. But this one addiction, this gambling business, is not legislated, it's not something that you can easily tax. Every other government looks at these sins that people engage in to find ways of squeezing the money out of it. We've always been afraid to legislate gambling because it would seem to condone it. It would seem to say it's okay. It's okay to have beer and it's okay to have all these other things, and we have all these things available to us that are supposed to damage your health and cause you trouble and difficulty. If you really want to have the same consistency, if you like, in the way we handle our sins, we should try to find ways to tax it. The claim is that if you tax something it will change it somehow. I don't know if there's that much logic to it but I have noted that that's one thing you can't tax because whatever you win, you win.
Brian Lewis on Committee Motion 34-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 29, Carried
In the Legislative Assembly on November 29th, 1993. See this statement in context.
Committee Motion 34-12(4): To Adopt Recommendation 29, Carried
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
November 28th, 1993
Page 271
Brian Lewis Yellowknife Centre
See context to find out what was said next.