The buyer of Nova Scotia's two casinos has negotiated a contract with the province that gaming officials insisted Monday makes responsible gambling "a priority consideration" of its operations.
The Great Canadian Gaming Corp., which purchased the casinos in Sydney and Halifax for $73.7 million US in May, has negotiated a new "responsible" operating contract with the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp.
"Under the old contract arrangement, there were no provisions surrounding social responsibility and responsible gambling," Marie Mullally, president and CEO of Nova Scotia Gaming Corp., said during a news conference at Casino Nova Scotia Halifax.
Under the contract, Nova Scotia Gaming, a provincial agency, will oversee marketing, activities and staff training at the two casinos.
Tony Martin, president and chief operating officer of Great Canadian, said marketing campaigns, under the guidance of Nova Scotia Gaming, will focus more on food, drink and entertainment.
"Our hope is to attract people who are looking to come for an evening out," he said.
"As opposed to going to a dinner and a movie, perhaps come to our casino and have dinner, stay for a show, and maybe do a little gaming along the way."
Visitors to the casinos can expect to see staff who have been trained to identify problem gamblers, responsible gaming resource centres, and card-based devices that allow players to set personal limits.
The casinos aren't required, however, to follow recent restrictions placed on video lottery terminals - a highly addictive form of gambling that has some calling for their outright ban in Nova Scotia.
Premier John Hamm announced in April that the number of VLTs in bars and restaurants across the province will be reduced by 1,000 machines. The machines are also now required to be shut off at midnight.
Even though those restrictions don't apply to the casinos, Mullally insisted that gaming machines elsewhere in the province do "not have the kind of controls nor the same level of regulation that exists in a casino environment."
Great Canadian's contract runs until 2015 and is renewable until 2025.
Under the deal, Great Canadian, which operates a handful of gaming facilities in British Columbia, Ontario and Washington state, gets first opportunity to bid on future casinos, but there is no exclusivity provision.
Nova Scotia Gaming reserves the right to end the contract at any time with six months notice.
Great Canadian purchased both casinos from the Metropolitan Entertainment Group, a partnership between Park Place Entertainment Scotia Ltd., a subsidiary of Caesar's Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas; and East Port Properties Ltd. of Nova Scotia.
"It was key to us to have an operator who understood that we were a leader in Canada and moving towards responsible gaming," said Finance Minister Peter Christie.
"That's why changing the contract was so important to us."