As Nova Scotia Liberal Party Leader Francis MacKenzie ponders whether to exit the political stage, one can only hope that his courageous promise to ban video lottery terminals from his province does not accompany him. I'm sure it was not an easy position for him to adopt, and one that he initially rejected, but it was the right thing to do.
But if a gradual ban is now lost, perhaps Nova Scotians can settle for the next best thing - a VLT plebiscite or referendum.
After Tuesday's provincial election, with the opposition parties now holding a combined 29 seats to the Conservatives' 23, it puts them squarely in the driver's seat.
And since all three parties will need to work together to make the political system function effectively and smoothly, it opens the door to the plebiscite idea. As Premier Rodney MacDonald himself said: "I pledge to do my part as PC leader to put political differences with other parties aside and always put the people's interests first."
What's more important than the life and death circumstances, along with the attendant social fallout, of tens of thousands of VLT addicts, problem gamblers and their families? That goes directly to the interests of Nova Scotians.
The provincial New Democrats have already endorsed a plebiscite on banning VLTs. Party leader Darrell Dexter has even formulated the question: "Shall the province make video lottery terminals and other video gaming devices illegal?"
He has also said that the government of the day would need to sit down with the Mi'kmaq reserves in the province and possibly offer them some form of financial compensation. Though Mr. Dexter has not specifically said how he would vote in such a plebiscite, he has stated that gambling has little socially redeemable value.
If the NDP and the Liberals join forces, they could easily pressure the MacDonald government into holding a binding plebiscite. If they have the political will and fortitude, they could make their support for the next Throne Speech or provincial budget contingent on an agreement from the government to proceed with a VLT plebiscite.
While all political stakeholders in Nova Scotia have had the advantage of organizing the Sunday shopping vote, they could also learn a great deal from the New Brunswick experience. Indeed, it was five years ago last month that New Brunswickers participated in their own VLT referendum, opting to retain the machines by a slim margin.
Mostly what they could learn from the New Brunswick case would be a list of things of what not to do. First, the MacDonald government should not intercede in the referendum process at all. It should remain scrupulously neutral and non-partisan, and refrain from indicating in any way its preferred choice through indiscreet comments about the costs of losing VLT revenue.
Second, the referendum question itself needs to be clear and unambiguous - carefully avoiding the wordy and imprecise New Brunswick query. To be sure, many New Brunswickers had difficulty with the proposed question: "Should the Province of New Brunswick continue to permit the legal and regulated operation of video gaming devices, commonly referred to as video lottery terminals? Yes (or) No."
Borrowing from what Nova Scotia's NDP leader has already proposed, but adding my own twist, the question could be put to Nova Scotians as such: "Should video lottery terminals (VLTs) and other video gaming devices be banned in Nova Scotia? Yes or No." Of course, the precise wording would need to be worked out by all-party negotiations.
Third, strict spending limits would need to be put on both the Yes and No camps' allowable expenditures for running their respective campaigns. Keeping advertising and organizational costs down is absolutely critical in terms of ensuring both the credibility and the legitimacy of the outcome.
In the New Brunswick case, the pro-VLT camp had deep pockets, cashed in on substantial business support, and budgeted close to $400,000 for the Yes campaign. On the other hand, the No side could barely scrape together enough money to cover the costs of mileage to get its representatives to public forums on the referendum.
Finally, to ensure a respectable voter turnout (and not the 44 per cent who turned out for the New Brunswick referendum), the parties should agree to hold the vote in conjunction with a municipal, provincial or federal election. Such a VLT vote should also be accompanied by an extensive public education campaign on what is at stake and why it is important for people to participate.
There will be plenty of vocal opposition and a host of reasons put forward by referendum opponents who have a vested interest in maintaining the VLT cash cow. But this is far too important an issue to be left in the hands of those who profit from the misery of others.
A province-wide plebiscite or referendum on VLTs would return power to where it should be, and to those who are most affected one way or another by these machines: the people of Nova Scotia.
Peter McKenna, an associate professor of political studies at the University of Prince Edward Island, is writing a book on the politics of VLTs in Atlantic Canada.
