As local charities struggle through cuts in gaming grants, B.C.'s casino operators - including Treasure Cove - are getting some of their revenue back from the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC).
Hart Pioneer Centre representatives in Prince George said this week they fear they may have to close their doors because gaming funds from the B.C. government have been cut to zero. The gaming funding has accounted for about one-third of the Hart Centre's $180,000 operating budget.
Meanwhile $400 million in proceeds from gaming are going towards helping private casino operators upgrade their facilities, leading the NDP's art critic on Thursday to accuse the government of improperly using taxpayer money.
"It just doesn't add up," said Spencer Chandra Herbert, the NDP MLA for Vancouver-West End. "The public is being taken for a ride."
The existence and amount of the pay out was first reported by the Vancouver Sun earlier this month.
Casinos can apply to the provincial government to receive a subsidy of three per cent of their net win under a payment called a facility development commission (FDC).
Herbert argues private casino operators should be paying for their buildings and improvements, similar to other businesses.
He said it's particularly concerning taxpayers are funding 40 per cent of the capital costs of casinos when gaming revenues provided to charities are decreasing.
The B.C. government took in more than $1 billion from gambling revenues in 2009-10.
In 1999, the NDP government agreed one-third of gambling revenues should be turned over to charities. The proportion has fallen to 11 per cent.
In Prince George, about $1 million in gaming grants has been lost between 2008-09 and 2009-10, according to the Northern Interior Communities Association, the new umbrella name for the former Bonanza Charities Association.
All 17 casinos in British Columbia have received FDCs, including the Treasure Cove in Prince George and the Billy Barker in Quesnel, 120 kilometres south of Prince George.
The BCLC has not provided information on the amount paid to the Treasure Cove or the Billy Barker.
BCLC officials say the information is being prepared but it will take another couple of weeks.
The Citizen first made a request for the information two weeks ago.
Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Pat Bell, the forests minister, deferred questions solicitor general Rich Coleman, who has responsibility for gaming, however he is on holidays and was not available for an interview.
