Honourable senators, today I rise to speak in support of Bill S-269, An Act respecting a national framework on advertising for sports betting.

I would like to thank Senator Marty Deacon for introducing this important piece of legislation and acknowledge the interventions of previous speakers during the second reading debate. I will not repeat what has already been said; rather, I will focus on the potential harms that this bill might, in part, be able to mitigate: those of the public health challenge of problematic gambling.

I will focus on the developmental cohort in which problematic gambling often begins: young people.

Last winter, I was watching an NHL hockey game with some of my grandsons. In between the fragments of vigorous play, we were treated to a deluge of advertising for online sports betting. Indeed, it seemed that the amount of time provided for exhorting the virtues of online sports betting might have been close to equal to that for watching the game.

During one of the many commercials promoting online gambling, one of my grandsons exclaimed that he wanted to place a bet so that he could win “tons and tons of money.” That led to a conversation about what gambling was, the odds of winning and losing, the recreational enjoyment of making a wager and the catastrophic impacts on the lives of some people who become problem gamblers. After we finished our chat, and following some considered contemplation, my grandson inquired, “Why would Auston Matthews say it was good if it was not good?”

Indeed, colleagues, that was a question I could not answer without getting into the realm of speculation and the siren lure of lucre, so I simply said, “I don’t know the answer to that.”

Colleagues, as kids grow up, they need heroes. They take their inspiration from heroes. Their heroes are often celebrities and can become their role models.