Gambling has given our provincial government in British Cloumbia huge revenues. Casinos are popping up all over the place cutting into charities and their bingo operations. Yes, we’ve come a long way since the only big jackpot us Canadians could hope for was the Irish Sweepstakes.
But our government wants a cut and control of every conceivable gambling operation and their latest foray into my community is way over the top.
See, we have a small seniors organization called the Happy Wanderers. These people knit together and raise funds for their supplies. I’m not sure they could be classified as a charity, but they do knit caps for babies in Afghanistan.
Now our government has declared their annual raffle yeilding a couple of hundred dollars illegal. Needless to say, everone I’m talking to is shaking their head.
It’s been that way for years in Canada. I’ve been involved in sports, and every 50/50 draw or any other raffle we’ve had was illegal. we all knew that, so it was only word of mouth. You can’t advertise in the paper and expect to get away with it. The only way around that is to have a community group that is legal do the paperwork for you. See if you can get the Lions Club or Kinsmen involved.
I work for a non-profit community sports club, and we always get licenses when we hold 50/50s and raffles. It’s not very expensive, and you wouldn’t want to jeopardize your non-profit status by getting in legal trouble.
From the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission website:
That’s just stupid. I’m not particularly crazy about how much government-sponsored gambling is already going on in this province, but honestly, back off. A freakin’ quilt raffle? Does the government not have other more pressing issues to enforce? I can only think of about a hundred.
Well, to start with, it’s not the province of B.C. that has made the policy decision here, it’s the federal Parliament. The Criminal Code makes it an offence to conduct a lottery:
At the same time, Parliament has recognised that local community groups use lotteries to raise money for charitable purposes, and has provided a specific exemption for them:
This isn’t anything new. These provisions have been in the Criminal Code for years. Any group that runs a lottery without a licence is in breach of the law.
As for why the Province has raised the issue, well, it’s the law. The provinces are required to enforce the Criminal Code. If a community group wants to raise money by a lottery, it has to comply with the law.
We are talking about a very small bunch of fixed income old ladies who like to knit together. Their annual raffle yields a couple of hundred dollars so they can purchase supplies.
It isn’t just a raffle permit which costs $28.00(small change hey Mr. Lawyer). You can’t even buy a permit unless you are a registered charity which requires even more money and maybe a lawyer or accountant to negotiate the hoops and then you’re forever accountable to the government.
No, that is not true. Any group of three people can apply for such a permit. The group does not have to be registered as a not-for-profit society, or as a charity, or as a corporation. There is neither a requirement for, nor a need for, a lawyer or an accountant, for there are no hoops – just a simple on-line application and a $10 fee. Hardly the stuff of Mafia.
No, that is not true. As **Northern Piper ** has already pointed out to you, the criminality of unregulated gambling was set by the Canadian government, not the British Columbia government. The Flying Dutchman, why did you make these things up rather than base your rant on actual facts? Why did you not not bother to check the procedure for small raffles before spewing your little balls of deficate derision at your bewildered adversaries?
Simple? I have a business and do my own bookwork and income tax, but I wouldn’t want to wade through this bullshit. You expect little old ladies to be computer savvy? The reaction of these women bears this out. They won’t be doing raffles any more
I’m not concerned about criminality. Besides, sometimes the law is an ass. i’m ranting on the enforcement. You know damn well, there is discretion in law enforcement In a lot of cases the cops require a complaint from the public before they’ll act. In this case we are paying for people to shut down little old ladies who like to knit.
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The Flying Dutchman, why did you make these things up rather than base your rant on actual facts?
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Lookl, I just pointed out two clear errors on your part plus a lack of judgement on the hoops you have to go through to get registered. I backed this up. Don’t go fucking telling me I made this up. Perhaps part of your problem iis that you’re out of your jurisdiction.
