United Church Social Policy Positions

Given these developments in the gambling industry in Canada, the following policies are recommended to the Executive of General Council as a basis for further work by church courts and people in addressing gambling as it presents itself in the late 1990s.

1. That the Executive of General Council urge the federal government to:
   1. create a federal inquiry to conduct a public and independent review of the social, economic, and legal impact of legal and illegal gambling and charitable gaming in Canada, and to make recommendations regarding public policy, with particular attention to electronic gambling and to effective oversight of the gambling industry within the requirements of the Criminal Code;
   2. establish national standards for the assessment of gambling and charitable gaming proposals, including economic, legal, and social impact assessments;
   3. establish a single format for providing information on gambling, gaming and gambling-generated revenues and require full disclosure of such information annually;
   4. establish an independent review of the activities of provincial gambling/gaming commissions and issue a public report on the findings, with particular attention to public processes for decision-making regarding the allocation of gambling-generated funds, public accountability, and standards of governance that serve the public interest; and
2. That the Executive of General Council urge all provincial, territorial, and First Nations governments to:
   1. halt all gambling/gaming expansion until such time as a full federal review has been completed and the recommendations acted on;
   2. ban the use of VLTs and slot machines and establish plans with timelines for removing those VLTs and slot machines that have already been licensed.
3. That the Executive of General Council:
   1. urge presbyteries—especially those serving low-income, native or remote communities—to seek the co-operation of others (e.g. police, the Children's Aid Society, the Chamber of Commerce, other charities) in protecting their communities from gambling expansion and its social and human costs.
   2. ensure that current information for use of congregations in connection with gambling expansion be disseminated to all UCC congregations (including a standardized petition form and procedure for a petition campaign), within the current budgeting parametres of the Division of Mission in Canada;
   3. issue a press release on the action taken to give visibility to the General Council's support for the efforts of local churches on this issue;
   4. express its thanks to the Church in Society Co-ordinating Group for the work on this report and to all those who submitted ideas and suggestions;
   5. adopt the report, The Gambling Economy as an update to the policy of the General Council.