That's a great question, Mr. Kelloway.
You are 100% correct. It is a provincial jurisdiction, but they can't get there without this bill passing third reading and going to the Senate for study. There have been a lot of studies in this country. The most recent study was two years ago and came out of the international symposium on April 24-25, 2019, held by the Ethical Sport Symposium. It is a great document, about 26 pages. I've spoken in the House, as have others, to this bill. We need to do more for addictions and mental health. We all know that.
Provincial governments right now are putting millions of dollars away to deal with this. I can tell you right now that with unregulated single-game betting, we don't know who is next door in their basement going on Bodog, Bet365 or any of the criminal organizations. We have no idea. We have an idea that well over $14 billion per year are being bet, but we don't know the problem gambling. There's an old saying that the Hells Angels don't have a gambling program. Why would they? They're into this.
Provincial governments have been regulating gaming in this country for over 30 years. They have the expertise. They're ready for this bill to pass, and they're ready to legislate it in their provinces and territories.
You bring up a good point; we have talked about it lots in the House because there is a stigma with this bill. What we are going to do with addictions and mental health is a big question across the country, whether it's opiates, drinking, smoking or so on.