Opposition questions whether Manitoba government has really lifted its 'pause' on new gambling licences

More than a year after Manitoba's government announced it would end its "pause" on new gambling operations, the Opposition is asking why there's been no update on the licensing of any new facilities or VLTs.

The NDP government told the chair of Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries in a late 2023 mandate letter to "lift the pause on gaming expansion in a targeted fashion," and yet a legislative committee heard Wednesday the government is still in conversations with stakeholders, while some VLTs have been replaced but there's no plans to add more.

Konrad Narth, the Progressive Conservative critic for Liquor & Lotteries, argued the suspension on gaming expansion hasn't ended.

"Essentially what you're saying is that you've upheld the pause for the last year, outside of possibly refreshing some of the technology around the digital games," Narth told Glen Simard, the minister responsible for the Crown corporation.

While Simard said the government is still meeting with stakeholders, it hasn't stopped the province from already cancelling one proposed gambling facility.

The Brandon Sun reported last year the province turfed plans for a casino several Westman First Nations wanted to open in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, nearly 40 kilometres west of Brandon.

Gambling pause started in 2018

Manitoba's former PC government instituted the gambling pause in 2018 to review the industry. Former premier Brian Pallister later produced a report that argued the gambling market in Manitoba and Winnipeg is oversupplied.

Simard said the province is moving carefully around gambling expansion because it's dealing with several years of pent-up demand from people who previously couldn't get an audience with the government. 

"What lifting the gaming pause effectively is is a conversation … where it takes time to develop whatever strategy may come out of those discussions."

Liquor & Lotteries CEO Gerry Sul later said the province is considering expansion possibilities in a "meaningful way" to ensure any new facilities don't have "negative impacts on the province and the net income to the province," he said in an interview.

While speaking to the committee, Sul said "what impacted us the greatest" from the gaming pause was the inability to refresh its collection of machines.

Sul said 93 per cent of the gaming machines were considered outdated by 2022, the year in which he said the former government changed course.

"We saw our revenues erode over that time because we're not offering something fresh to the consumers."

Fewer alcoholic drinks

Meanwhile, Sul said the corporation is learning to cope with the continued trend of softer alcohol sales.

He said the public messaging around the harms of drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol is weighing on the minds of customers.

"Consumers are drinking differently. They're drinking less," he said.

"I think as an organization, this is what we're focused on," he added. "How do we navigate through that? How can we pivot through that? But of course, always in a socially responsible way."

For the year ending March 31, 2024, revenues from liquor sales sunk 1.1 per cent to $873.5 million. Sales of beer and wine dropped, which was partially offset by sales of coolers, hard seltzers and similar drinks increasing by 7.4 per cent.

Despite the overall declines, Sul said there are opportunities to expand the number of pop-up liquor kiosks, known as Liquor Mart Express, within Winnipeg.

The province issued a request for information last October to open six more outlets.

MBLL's share of the profit of liquor operations in 2023-24 hit $53.5 million, a 11.4 per cent decrease from the prior year.

The legislative committee also heard how Liquor & Lotteries, alongside other lottery organizations in the country, is looking at ways to entice more people to play the lottery and traditional scratch tickets.

Sul said there's a need to make the old-school lottery games relevant, as not even high Lotto Max jackpots are tempting people like they used to. 

"I hate to say it, but $70 million is not doing it for people these days," he quipped, eliciting laughs from some committee members.