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2/13/2008: Quebec suicides
Anti poverty advocate Bill Clennett fought for five years using the Freedom of Information Act to obtain information on how many gambling related suicides were known by Lotto-Quebec.
The man played blackjack for hours with a smile on his face, changed his clothes around lunchtime, then played some more in the afternoon.
He left the Montreal Casino around 8:30 p.m. that spring night, down $4,500, and then fatally shot himself in his car with a small hunting rifle.
A five-year legal fight by Loto-Quebec to keep such stories secret came to an abrupt end with this week’s release of more than 150 documents about gambling-related suicides and other incidents at the province’s casinos.
“Loto-Quebec did everything to prevent this information from being released,” activist Bill Clennett, who launched the legal battle with an access to information request, said Tuesday.
Loto-Quebec released the documents on Monday after losing a Quebec Court of Appeal decision last December.
The documents show there were two suicides at Quebec casinos between 1999 and 2007.
They also provide details on how spectacular losses, in one case as much as $50,000 in a single visit, led six other people to attempt suicide.
Brian Yealland Gambling Watch Network Canada:
We would like complete transparency for the public in regards to all aspects of gambling, especially in regard to the impact it has on people’s lives.
The Quebec coronor lined 32 deaths in 2004 to pathological gambling.
For Yealland, there is a simple explanation behind Loto-Quebec long-held reluctance to release information about the two deaths at its casinos.
“Suicide is embarrassing for them,” he said.
Gambling Watch Canada’s Sol Boxenbaum of Viva Consulting:
Gambling critic Sol Boxenbaum said the numbers were likely much higher, and that it was immaterial where the suicides took place. CTV
“It doesn’t matter to me whether the person commits suicide in the building or whether they go home and commit suicide in their basement or garage. It’s still a life lost”
Clennett said the reports released by Loto-Québec show only a fraction of the destruction wrought by the province’s reliance on gambling.
Many lives are destroyed before anyone ever takes their own life, he said, arguing that Quebec could create a fiscal policy that doesn’t rely on gambling revenues to fund government programs.
“We’re oblivious to the fact that the social cost of gambling makes it not a very economic, viable way to go and the human cost of it makes it totally immoral,” he said.
Released information to date 170 incident reports:
- 2 suicides
- 6 attempted suicides at Casino de Montréal & Gatineau’s Lac-Leamy casino 1999 and 2007
- 150 other incidents between 1999 and 2002
See related articles: Activism, Addiction and Recovery, Canada, Gambling Watch Canada Network Newsletter 
Administrator
February 19th, 2008 at 12:26 am
[...] On this subject, 2/12/08 CTV says that Lotto Quebec has only released numbers up to 2002, and will be releasing more recent stats in a later report. It quotes Sol Boxenbaum saying that the numbers were likely much higher, and that it was immaterial where the suicides took place. A day later The Montreal Gazette tells the story of Did Bélizaire, an EGM player who started at 17 and took a suicide leap when he was 36 to finally break a painful and costly addiction to gambling. He survived that attempt but lost the use of his legs. (see earlier GWG post - admin) [...]
September 20th, 2008 at 12:50 am
I have known several gamblers who have committed suicide as a result of their gambling problems. It leaves a huge hole in the family structure which may never be understood by the loved ones. I have more than 17 years of recovery and will continue to help the recovering gambler till the day I can’t write any longer. I have an on-line newsletter, Women Helping Women (www.femalegamblers.org) and have published a book, Gripped by Gambling, (www.grippedbygambling.com) which is available on Amazon.com. Because of the recovery I am experiencing today, I feel obligated to reach out and take someonen’s hand and help them through their gambling problem.
sincerely,
Marilyn
November 4th, 2008 at 6:40 am
A man with suicidal thoughts may take refuge in alcohol or drugs, or display aggressive or violent behaviour, she said. While violent behaviour should never be considered acceptable, people might want to question why a man is acting in such a fashion.
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Thomson
Drug Rehabs
December 21st, 2008 at 2:45 am
The Women Helping Women Newsletter you have listed has a change in the extension and instead of femalegamblers.org the new link is: femalegamblers.info.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Lancelot
December 21st, 2008 at 2:45 am
The Women Helping Women Newsletter you have listed has a change in the extension and instead of femalegamblers.org the new link is: femalegamblers.info.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Lancelot
December 27th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Hi Marilyn, the link has been changed. Thanks.