SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Hopes of progressing Canadian single sports betting have been dashed again as the Ottawa House of Commons voted against Bill C-221 this Wednesday.
Commons voted down against C-221 with 133 MPs voting in favour and 156 against the bill. C-221 named ‘The Safe & Regulated Sports Act’ will not be carried over to the Canadian Committee for Justice.
Windsor West MP Brian Masse, the bill’s lead advocate, blasted Liberal Party MPs for voting against its progress, stating to Canadian news sources that party members had been ‘small minded’ and ‘stubborn in ignorance’ with regards to sports betting.
Heading into its September Commons review, Masse and C-221 supporters had been positive of progressing single sports betting agenda. Unlike previous failed single sports bills, C-221 would be reviewed in private with its advocates stating that the bill would not be attached to any cabinet minister or political party.
However, C-221 faced an uphill challenge as ruling Liberal Party MPs had publically commented that they would not support its motion, pointing to concerns relating to Canadian sports integrity.
A dejected Masse would tell Canadian news sources that he could not see the single sports betting agenda being put forward to Commons for any type of review.
“It’s done,” Masse said. “There’s no way else it can be revisited in terms of the language that we have for the Criminal Code … I can’t imagine of another way.”
