Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 20, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba A4 local 2001 lotteries corporation tackles problem gamblers is their Best enough t he face of problem gambling in Manitoba Are in Binder at the cites two glitzy there Are More than gamblers on the most unwanted list of club Regent and Mcphillips Street most of them barred for behavioural but nearly 500 Are self admitted addicts who have voluntarily had their pictures taken and signed Legal agreements that bar them from the casinos at risk of prosecution for Petty it was the fail of the year after the first Casino opened at Winnipeg convention that the first problem Gambler entered the voluntary exclusion this a full 14 years Manitoba lotteries will finally begin its first All out training program to help staff Deal with and recognize problem not that they Haven had to help gamblers Over the years who have bashed in miserly slots wept in bankrupt or threatened the Security personnel at the two casinos who see an Eye boggling blur of faces a Day have trouble recognizing the problem gamblers who have already identified never mind the ones who they do their said lotteries spokeswoman Susan keeping in mind there Are 484 voluntary and 729 involuntary faces on the most of the Casino staff on the floor never see the which is Why Gwen Story int As surprising As it Gwen a pseudonym for a 46yearold gambling addict had her photo taken and signed a voluntary exclusion agreement in then she went on to play Blackjack at club Regent and Mcphillips Street station for four years without being never mind by the end of last having blown tens of thousands of dollars left to her As a Start you life Over Gwen finally stopped now Shes looking for a lawyer to sue the corporation for her which is How she came to write a letter 2000 to whom it May concern at the lotteries in Gwen asked How difficult was it for the Casino to identify her when she was a regular she played the Blackjack table that was monitored by and the pit Bosses knew her by the Security monitoring staff who watched her Gamble Day after Day on camera might have forgotten that they once saw her face on a bulletin Board four years ago before it was buried in the binders with the rest of the most but what Gwen didst know was the pit Bosses who knew her by name never saw the or knew she was in her letter to the lotteries Gwen alluded to her difficult her abusive sex and How her family had Given her inheritance Money Only when they believed the casinos would never let her in since july of she i have lost my stress level is at its High words cannot express my and my family does not even know within a week Gwen received a reply from Jackie the lotteries manager of consumer and corporate Beaton wrote that the corporation shared Gwen distress at her serious losses and urged her to seek As to the suggestion that you May take Legal action we have spoken to our Legal counsel who confirms that the corporation has no Legal liability to you even though it appears there was a voluntary exclusion in that because the Legal agreement Gwen signed with lotteries had some disclaimers that she agreed Gwen agreed she sue for past or future gambling she also agreed to this i further acknowledge in acceding to my the Manitoba lotteries corporation is agreeing Only to exercise its Best efforts to bar me and that the Manitoba lot teries corporation does not in any Way rep resent or guarantee that it will in All events be successful in its attempt to bar me As i have the key words for Gwen Are exercise its Best we try to do our was Susan Olynik and the corporations mantra and Best defence i counted her dutifully saying our Best or very Best eight that includes this version As a Corpora Tion were very concerned that there Are people who have gambling addiction and we really do try to our Best presumably that Why Treyve been working on a training program for the past two years with the addictions foundation of Manitoba to train All their Casino workers in general problem gambling awareness Start ing this also be establishing and training an intervention but the voluntary exclusion program seems an impossible i asked Olynik if its just giving gamblers false Hope of help at the Casino when addicts Are the Only ones who have to lock the doors to and throw away the we will do our very Best to not let them enter the Olynik there have been some times when some peo ple have got now having said that we try to do our Best then she acknowledged certainly i think there Are always ways to improve our on that much Gwen and Olynik would in Gwen she believes the casinos knew All along who she i am a Good losing she wrote Why would they ask me to leave d positioning starts to see who will be left High and dry by Kim the positioning has already started to see which Manitoban will be left High and dry at the end of the Hood As consultants continue to crunch the numbers on options for protecting Winnipeg from floods much larger than one of the few Clear facts to emerge is that some part of the province will be getting the question that will be left to the politicians is which part of the province that the options the province is considering All focused on guaranteeing a dry Winnipeg Are to build a Dike at which would hold water Back for any Hood larger than or to expand the flood Way to accommodate floods up to three times As Large As Herm Reeve of the pm of has been working behind the scenes to get his View he says if the province opts to build a Dike at the Southern half of the red River Valley will be inundated with an extra four feet of for those living Between Agathe and the Dike is preferable to an expanded flood Way because of fear that the flood Way would create More similar to the Situa Tion at Grande Pointe during and those who live North of Winnipeg say All the water in a flood ends up on their Doorstep on its Way to Lake Winnipeg and no ones talking about them i feel very much the forgotten said Duncan a Clements resident and part of a group called the North flood Way Protection they arc meeting monday night to further the position that a Channel should be dug to divert the water directly into prudence its similar to a proposal by University of Manitoba engineering professor Jay and its an option the province is not currently the common thread is that All know the devastating effects of a flood and dont wish it on but they also dont want to be on the losing end of any flood Protection the Agathe detention system has a lot of says Bob mayor of the pm of whose neigh Bours would be protected by that but i dont want peo ple to the South to go through what we went through in i look at things More globally in the red River Martens and Stefaniuk were among about 100 people who attended a flood briefing in Morris the province has already said once the technical report is completed this there will be Public consultations and the socioeconomic Impact of flood Protection will be factored Martens says compensation should be spelled out in Black and White Long before any water begins to the word compensation we dont like to hear because of How Many people were treated in Martens said of the complicated process used to help those affected by the 3 to Iff v Harry ;