A Gatineau man says Quebec casinos have a responsibility to be more transparent in terms of revealing information about customer suicide and depression.
"The government is as hooked on gambling as are people who have pathological difficulties in that area," said activist Bill Clennett.
Clennett filed an Access to Information request to the Quebec government in 2002 to find out how many suicides and attempted suicides are reported at provincial casinos.
According to 170 reports filed between 1999 and 2007 at Casino de Montreal and Casino du Lac Leamy, there were two suicides and six attempted suicides at the casinos. There were also several reports of customers who found themselves in desperate situations.
In October 1999, a man's body was pulled from the Rideau River. He had a card for Casino du Lac Leamy in his pocket and reportedly lost $17,000 gambling at the casino over a period of two years.
"The human cost of it makes it totally immoral," said Clennett.
Ottawa gambling counsellor Patricia McGovern says it's easy for people to become desperate when they are losing at the slots or card tables.
"I can tell you, the people that we see here, who seek our service for treatment have all considered suicide at one point," McGovern told CTV News.
It's that desperation that Clennett says casinos need to start addressing,
"They only do this at the end. It is possible to use this information in the manner of prevention," he said.
But officials from Loto-Quebec say they're doing their best to help patrons combat suicidal tendencies.
Lottery officials say the commission donates $22 million each year to the Quebec Health Department to combat gambling addiction, as well as operating a gambling addiction hotline and offering counselling to those who need it.
"We fully worry about the people that have a gaming problem but we're not sure it's in the public interest to release precise facts, dates and figures about these people," said Jean-Pierre Roy, a spokesperson for Loto-Quebec.
With a report from CTV's John Hua
