With the success of the iGaming market in Ontario, Alberta is looking to it as a blueprint for its own plans in that arena. Despite this, there will likely be differences in the way the two provinces regulate this industry.  These potential differences will likely be based on the strategies laid out by Dale Nally, Alberta’s Minister of Service and Red Tape Reduction.

The manner in which Alberta eventually decides to handle its iGaming regulations will be crucial to maintaining a healthy balance for the industry there. Many other regions have begun seeing the drawbacks of over-regulation in this field. As a result, many new-age casinos operating offshore have been gaining popularity over traditional ones that are often stifled by restrictions. 

This is because restrictions place more onerous burdens on operators and cause lengthy delays with everything from sign-up procedures to payout times. However, offshore casinos have become a revelation for players tied down by these restrictions. For example, crypto casinos and the perks found at sites like an instant payout casino have seen the number of players from regions like the US, UK, Asia, Europe, and even Canada soaring in recent years.

Instant payout casinos in particular have grown very popular in recent years as they offer players same-day access to their winnings. This phenomenon has been playing out amid ever-tightening regulations on iGaming sites being deployed in many prominent markets. 

While reasonable regulations have their benefits, many players feel that most jurisdictions are over-regulating the industry now and players have begun to respond by flocking to offshore sites. Instant payout casinos offer a perfect refuge since platforms like these feature fewer restrictions, more expansive gaming libraries, more privacy, and more generous bonuses.  

While Alberta is drawing heavily from Ontario’s regulatory guidelines, it also wants to retain some aspects that will distinguish it too. Minister Nally has indicated that Alberta will seek a less onerous regulatory regime than Ontario. However, as it is with Ontario, there won’t be a limit imposed on the number of iGaming operators permitted. These would also not require any partnerships with land-based casinos. 

This approach is expected to foster a competitive online betting environment. As such, huge operators are expected to set up shop there and operate freely alongside the government-run Play Alberta—which currently holds a monopoly.

Nally’s ministry has already been busy working on these new regulations and is set to keep being so as it will also be directly responsible for overseeing iGaming regulations and their enforcement. This ensures a separate regulatory body need not be created. It also addresses concerns raised by operators that Alberta’s Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) would have a conflict of interest if it managed the new regime as the AGLC is a market operator since it runs the Play Alberta platform.

All in all, Alberta’s approach currently does look good and at least considers the need for making it as simple as possible for new entrants to gain access to the market. Alberta’s method to  “conduct and manage” gambling activities is in direct contrast with Ontario’s, where iGaming Ontario (iGO) is simply a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

The revenue-sharing model will also be looked at. Currently, Ontario operators are taxed 20% with the province making $790 million of them last year—with more expansion on the horizon. On that note, Alberta has hinted that it may seek a higher percentage. With other things like consults with indigenous communities and other stakeholders, and setting up transition periods for “grey” market operators, there is more work to be done. However, for now, the future of the iGaming industry in Alberta looks good indeed. 

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Proposed legislation would apply to ‘all competitive women’s and girls’ sports and all provincial sporting organizations as well as in our schools and postsecondary competitive sporting divisions,’ the Alberta premier said.

Alberta will soon introduce a law that bans gender-confused men from competing in women’s sports, Premier Danielle Smith announced.

“As it pertains to women and girls in competitive sports, proposed legislation will be tabled that prohibits individuals born biologically male from competing against women and girls in competitive sporting competitions,” Smith said earlier in the week in an announcement on her X account.

The new law will mean that women and girls in the province will be protected from having to compete against biological men who claim to be women in all sporting scenarios.

Smith, who leads the ruling United Conservative Party (UCP), said the new law will apply to “all competitive women’s and girls’ sports and all provincial sporting organizations as well as in our schools and postsecondary competitive sporting divisions.”

Smith noted that her government would “support the formation of additional” and possibly transgender-only “coed and recreational divisions so that all athletes have as many opportunities as possible to compete in their sport of choice.”

Smith said that before her new bill is tabled in the legislature she is looking to “depoliticize the discussion and focus on the well-being of the children and youth most affected by these policies.”

Earlier in the year, she said her government was looking to bring forth legislation banning gender-confused men from competing in women’s sports.

Alberta’s new law prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports comes after studies have repeatedly revealed that gender-confused males have a considerable advantage over women in athletics.

Indeed, a recent study published in Sports Medicine found that a year of transgender hormone drugs results in “very modest changes” in the inherent strength advantages of men.

Smith’s announcement about banning biological men from competing in women’s sports comes at the same time she promised a much-anticipated bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology will be tabled in the legislature in the coming days.

The news of the new bill also comes as the UCP looks to November to bring forth a resolution that calls on the government to introduce a law protecting “female spaces” for biological females and their children.

The UCP under Smith wants to bring forth laws focusing on parental rights as well as protecting Albertans’ general rights.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, part of Smith’s new bill would allow parents to opt their children into sexual education lessons rather than opt them out.

LifeSiteNews recently reported on forthcoming legislation to be introduced by the UCP that includes a provision that would cement parental rights as a “God-given right,” with the goal to prevent government overreach into parents raising kids.

It is expected that the UCP government will introduce its new “Bill of Rights” this fall. The bill contains a slew of pro-freedom proposals, including enshrining the “right to life” into law from “conception, gestation in the womb.”

The bill also includes a section that guarantees each citizen has the “right” to medical “informed consent” as well as the “right” to “refuse vaccinations.”