Statistics Canada has crunched the numbers and Saskatchewan is officially on a money-high. We're so flush with resource money that we're gambling at 1 1/2 times the national average.
In 1992, Saskatchewan lingered like a lame pony in last place, spending only $86 annually per person on gaming. According to a recent StatsCan report, Saskatchewan has come from behind in 2008 to lead the country with $825 spent annually on lotteries, bingo, VLTs and other gaming.
What happened? How does a province go from make-do and have-not to booking a bus tour south to Branson, Mo., to enjoy comedian Yakov Smirnoff and play the slots?
If long bus trips aren't appealing, there's plenty of action closer to home. As I walked my border collie, Laddie, around the Rona parking lot in Prince Albert on Saturday, I spotted Lucky's, an off-track betting establishment and bar. Tucked discreetly in a strip mall with metal security bars and tinted windows, Lucky's was also conveniently located right next door to the Community Futures office, a government agency responsible for underwriting new entrepreneurs. I wonder how many people drive up and face that devil at the crossroads: Will I gamble on self-employment or the trifecta that includes a free buffet?
For many sodbusters, vice has now overtaken other more wholesome pastimes such as canning and curling. Saskatchewan people have been thrifty for so long that a little prosperity has released their pent-up demand. Get that antique Riverboat out from dry-dock, roll up your sleeves; it's time to bet the farm. Last summer, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix ran a profile on a family physician from my small town. In addition to caring for the community, she was a highly ranked poker player. She's known at the tables by her handle, "Doc."
Doc's downtime sideline made me smile, but I also realized just how out of the loop I was when it came to the local leisure scene. Is this what my neighbours are doing on the weekends? Are they practising their best poker face in the mirror and watching Owning Mahowny on the dish while I'm earnestly re-reading W.O. Mitchell and weeding?
If only I knew then what I know now, I would have been nicer to my late Uncle Pete. In his prime, my father's oldest brother was a regular fixture at the Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg. When he wasn't working at the bread factory to support his 16 kids, he bet on the ponies - and won. When Pete won his final big score, he and his wife quit Winnipeg and retired to British Columbia - the Prairies' version of Freedom 55.
I should have paid him more attention at family gatherings. Instead of working at McDonald's in my teens, I could have hung out with my uncle on Saturday afternoons, re-enacting my own version of Paper Moon. But no, I chose the Presbyterian route of hard work and grim self-sacrifice. No more. I'm changing my tight-lipped ways and joining the fun.
Last weekend, I purchased my first ever 6/49 ticket on my way out of the Superstore. "It's at nine million," I overheard one guy exclaim as I bagged up my bulk bin beans and loaded my case of overstuffed mangos into the cart at the checkout area. "Why not?" I asked my partner Grant. He good-naturedly handed me a toonie and I bought a quick pick. "Luck be a lady tonight!" we laughed.
Well, that night they did the draw and my numbers did not come up. So, it's back to my other gambling habit to pay the bills: freelance writing. But, when you think of it, is it any wonder Saskatchewan people are gambling in record numbers? Given the choice between the stock market, working at a grinding day job for a diminishing pension, grain farming or the track, I'd rather squander my afternoons at Lucky's.
Patricia Robertson is a Saskatchewan-based writer.