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B.C. party leaders’ debate makes for grim listening in close election campaign

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VANCOUVER – The leaders of British Columbia’s three major political parties have presented starkly different visions of the province and its future in the only televised debate of their closely fought election campaign.

The discussion involving NDP Leader David Eby, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau, hosted by Angus Reid president Shachi Kurl, made for sometimes grim listening.

Rustad told of seeing a man dead on the streets of Vancouver — of an overdose, he said — on his way to the debate venue at the CBC’s studio on Tuesday.

“I was on my way over here, and on the corner of Robson and Hornby, there was an individual who died … This is the British Columbia that David Eby has created,” Rustad said.

He later related an anecdote about a woman “covered in blood” after miscarrying in a hospital washroom as he attacked the state of health care in B.C.

He also described young people leaving the province and what he depicted as a lack of opportunity in B.C., prompting exasperation from Furstenau — who also delivered an early zinger against both her rivals by describing them as “more of the same or back to the past.”

“I feel like I live in a different place from John Rustad — his vision of B.C. is one that is dark and gloomy,” Furstenau said. “We need a vision of hope. If we want young people to stay here, we have to give them a reason to stay.”

All three leaders had spent the day preparing for what could prove a pivotal moment for the campaign, with the B.C. Conservatives and the NDP locked in what polls suggest will be a narrow race, with less than two weeks to go before election day on Oct. 19.

For his part, Eby remained squarely focused on Rustad and his stances on various social issues, describing him as an “anti-vaxxer” who was “embarrassing” the province.

“When we were all rolling up our sleeves to get vaccines, to protect vulnerable seniors from COVID-19 … John Rustad and his candidates were providing donations to people who are protesting outside of hospitals, anti-vax convoy members. He’s still an anti-vaxxer.”

Rustad has previously said he regretted getting vaccinated against COVID-19, but told the debate that he was “not anti-vax, I’m anti-mandate.”

Eby and Furstenau both trained attacks on Rustad, and Eby pointedly avoided attacking Furstenau, who said that the “least polarized” time in B.C. had been when the Greens supported the NDP from 2017 to 2020 in the minority government of former premier John Horgan.

When Eby pointed to Rustad’s “uncosted” economic platform, which he said was written in “pixie dust,” he compared it unfavourably to Furstenau’s costed policies. In closing remarks, Eby said “Sonia’s right” to think of B.C.’s biggest assets being British Columbians.

The Green Leader did not offer Eby the same consideration, criticizing Eby and Rustad for being aligned on health care and subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.

The debate had started with all three leaders on the defensive — not against each other but the moderator.

The 90-minute debate featured no opening statements, instead beginning with individual questions from Kurl.

She pointed to the province’s shift from surplus to deficit under Eby’s government, asking him when things would improve.

Eby responded by saying families were under pressure and “people need support now.”

Asked how he could convince people he wasn’t “too extreme,” Rustad said a “lot of things” had been said about him but he was “laser focused” on the needs of people in the province.

Furstenau meanwhile responded to a question about why people would vote for a party with only two people in the legislature, by delivering her “more of the same or back to the past” line about both Eby and Rustad

The debate was broadcast on all major TV networks.

Supporters outside the studio had cheered on the leaders as they made their way inside.

Eby arrived on the party’s election bus with wife Cailey Lynch and about two dozen supporters, Rustad was greeted by a largely youthful crowd waving blue party placards and Furstenau arrived with a handful of supporters.

At times, the NDP and B.C. Conservative supporters appeared to be in a friendly contest to out-cheer each other.

Rustad earlier Tuesday released his party’s proposals for dealing with the toxic drug crisis in the province, which include cutting wait times for voluntary treatment and creating a virtual program to connect people with addiction specialists.

He also said his party wanted to redevelop and repurpose the Riverview Hospital in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam, a provincially-owned psychiatric institution that closed in 2012.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024



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As sports betting addiction takes hold in Brazil, the government moves to crack down

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SAO PAULO (AP) — “King” doesn’t disclose his real name. Even clients of his Sao Paulo newsstand have to call him by his moniker. The Brazilian online sports gambling addict lowered his profile after a loan shark threatened to put bullets in his head if he didn’t pay up.

Broke and embarrassed, King sought treatment and support earlier this year.

“I was once addicted to slot machines, but then sports betting was so easy that I changed. I got carried away all the time,” he told The Associated Press.

King’s story is that of many vulnerable Brazilians in recent years. The country has become the third-biggest market in the world for sports betting, following the U.S. and the U.K., a report by data analysis company Comscore said last year. But unlike those countries, rampant advertising and sponsorship have been coupled with an unregulated market. The government is now — belatedly, some say — striving to get a handle on the epidemic.

On a recent evening, King’s Gamblers Anonymous meeting took place in an improvised classroom inside a church, with coffee and cookies to keep everyone awake, and supportive messages scrawled onto the blackboard. One that’s become ubiquitous in Brazil and beyond: “Only for today I will avoid the first bet.”

King and other attendees, all Christian, started a prayer and the meeting began.

King said his financial problems arose from his addiction to online sports betting, chiefly on soccer.

“I miss the adrenaline rush when I don’t bet,” he said before the gathering. “I have managed to stop for a couple of months, but I know that if I do it once again, even a small bet, it will all come back.”

Driven by the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was a key driver for Brazilians embracing sports betting. King said he transformed almost every sale during that time into a bet. His hook was the non-stop advertising on TV, radio, social media as well as sponsorship of local soccer teams’ jerseys. He asked for bank loans to pay his gambling debts and then, to cover those, went to the moneylender. His total debt now amounts to 85,000 reais ($15,000) — impossible to pay off with his monthly income of 8,000 reais.

Digging oneself out of debt in Brazil is especially daunting with its sky-high interest rates. Loans from Brazilian banks could add interest of almost 8% per month to the borrowed sum, and from loan sharks could be even more.

Four Gamblers Anonymous meetings attended by the AP in October featured discussions about difficulties paying down debts, forcing working-class members to postpone housing payments and cancel family vacations.

Some members of impoverished Brazilian families have used welfare money for betting instead of paying for groceries and housing, official data suggests. In August, beneficiaries of Brazil’s flagship program Bolsa Familia spent 3 billion reais ($530 million) on sports betting, according to a report from the central bank. That was more than 20% of the program’s total outlay in the month.

A host of gambling related problems

Sports betting was made legal in 2018 in a bill signed by former President Michel Temer. The subsequent turmoil has recently been setting off alarm bells, with addicts venting on social media and media reports of people losing huge sums.

On Oct. 1, the economy ministry prevented more than 2,000 betting companies from operating in Brazil for having failed to provide all the required documents. Soccer-loving President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in an interview on Oct. 17 that he will shut down the entire market in Brazil if his administration’s new regulations — presented at the end of July— fail to work. And Brazil’s Senate on Oct. 25 opened an investigation into betting companies, focusing on crime and addiction.

“There’s tax evasion, money laundering of organized crime, the use of influencers to trick people into betting. These companies need to be audited,” Sen. Soraya Thronicke, who proposed the inquiry, told journalists in Brasilia.

Sérgio Peixoto, a ride-sharing app driver in Rio, is one of many lower-middle-income Brazilians who have reduced their spending due to sports betting debt. Peixoto’s debt currently amounts to 25,000 reais ($4,400). His monthly income is four times less than that.

“It stopped being a game, it wasn’t fun. I just wanted to get the money back, so I lost even more,” said Peixoto, 26. “I could have invested that money. It would surely have given me more benefits.

Pressure to bet

Pressure on people to gamble is everywhere. Current and former soccer players, including Vinicius Júnior, Ronaldo Nazário and Roberto Rivellino, are among the poster boys for local and foreign brands. All but one of the top-tier soccer clubs have betting companies among their main sponsors, with their name and logo emblazoned on their kits. There have been cases of kids and teenagers setting up accounts using their parents’ personal information and money, multiple local media outlets have reported.

Brazil’s economy ministry estimates that Brazil’s sports betting market had $21 billion in transactions last year, a 71% increase compared with the first year of the pandemic, 2020.

The ministry’s newly presented regulations include facial recognition systems for gamblers to bet, the identification of a single bank account for transactions involving sports betting, new protections against hackers and the government-authorized domain, bet.br, which will host all betting sites that are legal in Brazil. Once they are in place, come January, between 100 and 150 betting companies will continue to operate in the South American nation.

The changes in Brazil have prompted some companies to take preemptive action. A report by Yield Sec, a technical intelligence platform for online marketplaces, said several betting companies voluntarily restricted their operations in different places after the latest editions of the European Championships and Copa America in the hopes of presenting “the best possible license application face to the Brazilian authorities.”

Magnho José Santos de Sousa, the president of the Legal Gambling Institute, a betting think tank, said Brazil is currently “invaded by illegal websites that have licenses in Malta, Curação, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom.”

De Sousa expressed hope that the new regulations for advertising, responsible gambling and qualification of sports betting companies will transform the country’s deregulated arena into a more serious one that doesn’t exploit the vulnerable.

“The whole operation could turn from water into wine,” he said.

Gamblers Anonymous in high demand

Meantime, the demand for Gamblers Anonymous meetings in Sao Paulo has grown so much in recent years that the weekly gathering, in place since the 1990s, was no longer enough. Many groups have added a second day in the week to help new people recover, mostly sports bettors.

Earlier in October, a group on Sao Paulo’s northern edge admitted a man who was struggling with sports betting and card games. The 13 other people in the room stressed that he wasn’t alone.

“Welcome,” one long-time attendee said, in a greeting that has become a regular for the group. “Today, you are the most important person here.”

___

Dumphreys reported from Rio de Janeiro.



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Saskatchewan’s Jason Ackerman improves to 6-0 at mixed curling nationals

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SAINT CATHARINES, Ont. – Saskatchewan’s Jason Ackerman remained undefeated on Wednesday with a 7-4 win over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Trent Skanes at the Canadian mixed curling championship.

After going down 3-1 through four ends, Ackerman (6-0) outscored Skanes (3-3) 6-1 the rest of the way, including three points in the seventh end.

Alberta’s Kurt Alan Balderston also earned a win, defeating New Brunswick’s Charlie Sullivan 9-2 in another matchup in the final draw.

The win improved Balderston’s record to 4-2 and sits in third in Pool B.

The top four teams from each pool will play four more games against the survivors from the other pool. The remaining three teams from the pool will play three more seeding games to help set the rankings for next year’s event.

The championship final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Oilers fall 4-2 to Golden Knights in McDavid’s return from injury

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EDMONTON – Noah Hanifin had a pair of goals as the Vegas Golden Knights won their first road game of the season, coming from behind to shock the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Wednesday.

Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists and Mark Stone also scored for the Golden Knights (9-3-1), who have won two in a row and six of their last seven. The Knights entered the game 0-3-1 on the road this year.

Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman replied for the Oilers (6-7-1), who have lost two straight despite getting captain Connor McDavid back from injury earlier than expected for the game.

Adin Hill made 27 saves for Vegas, while Stuart Skinner managed 31 stops for Edmonton.

Takeaways

Golden Knights: With an assist on the Knights’ second goal, William Karlsson has recorded at least a point in all five games he has played this season (two goals, four assists).

Oilers: McDavid was a surprise starter for the Oilers, coming back just nine days after suffering an ankle injury in Columbus and initially being expected to miss two to three weeks. The star forward came into the contest with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) during a six-game point streak versus the Golden Knights, but was held pointless on the night.

Key moment

With just 48.4 seconds left to play, the Golden Knights won a race to the corner and Ivan Barbashev was able to send it out to a hard-charging Hanifin, who sent a shot glove-side that beat Skinner for his second goal of the third period and third of the season.

Key stat

It was Hyman’s third goal in the last four games after the veteran forward went scoreless in his first 10 games this season following a 54-goal campaign last year. Hyman now has five goals in his last six games against Vegas.

Up next

Golden Knights: Head to Seattle to face the Kraken on Friday.

Oilers: Travel to Vancouver on a quick one-game trip to clash with the Canucks on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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