Canada had more than 220 gambler suicides in last decade — but no inquests
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Canada → have → decade
Inquests put gambling industry under microscope in Australia, U.K.
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Inquests → put → Australia
This story is part of a CBC News series examining the public health impacts of online gambling.
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story → examine → gambling
Dave, a retiree recovering from gambling addiction, says that when he was winning, he felt like a king, hooked by the prospect of wealth and recognition.
But he says like most gamblers, he "inevitably" started losing.
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he → recover → gamblers
"Not only money — trust, people we care for, spouses, children, we lose the whole gamut.
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we → care → gamut
Everything that we built goes crumbling down," he told CBC News during a recent online Gamblers Anonymous meeting in Toronto.
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he → build → Toronto
"So we often try suicide, which I did try.
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I → try → which
I turned out to be an utter failure at that."
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I → turn → that
CBC reporter Dave Seglins speaks to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting in Toronto.
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Seglins → speak → Toronto
A CBC News investigation has found that at least 220 problem gamblers in Canada have died by suicide in the last decade, which includes a tripling of gambling-related suicides in Ontario since 2022.
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which → find → 2022
But the national numbers are likely higher, as Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Yukon and Nunavut don’t track gambling-related deaths, citing a lack of obvious indicators in most death investigations.
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Alberta → track → investigations
What’s more, no coroner in Canada has ever held an inquest into the issue — unlike in Australia and the United Kingdom, where inquests are being used to critically examine the gambling industry and the links between addiction and suicide.
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inquests → ’ → addiction
A coroner in Australia delivered a scathing inquest report last month, calling for major industry reforms after investigating the suicide of 22-year-old Kyle Hudson.
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coroner → deliver → Hudson
Hudson opened online betting accounts after his 18th birthday and over four years, placed more than 10,000 bets, losing a cumulative $47,000 Cdn.
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Hudson → open → Cdn
The morning he died, he had placed and lost bets worth $6,200.
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he → die → bets
Coroner Paul Lowrie concluded that Hudson’s preferred platform, SportsBet, ought to have detected his problem gambling.
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platform → conclude → gambling
"Kyle’s case reveals, in the sharpest relief, the human cost of online gambling," the coroner wrote.
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coroner → reveal → gambling
"It should be a clear signal that we cannot leave monitoring and intervention solely in the hands of the betting companies.
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we → leave → companies
Kyle Hudson was 'a young man brimming with promise,' according to a coroner's report in Australia.
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Hudson → brim → Australia
He was working part-time while in his fourth year at university and loved sport.
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He → work → sport
Hudson’s betting escalated and triggered 37 alerts on SportBet’s internal "Safer Gambling" monitoring system, the inquest heard.
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inquest → escalate → system
The company sent him automated support emails and on multiple occasions called him to suspend his account, only to receive a call back from Hudson, who convinced them to reinstate it.
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who → send → it
SportsBet also sent Hudson hundreds of bonus offers and inducements to continue playing, which the coroner found to be "contrary" to the company’s safer gambling programs.
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coroner → send → programs
"These products are carefully designed to keep gamblers engaged and active, and to extract net losses over time," Lowrie wrote.
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Lowrie → design → time
"They are dangerous and capable of causing misery and great harm, especially for the young or those whose traits may make them more vulnerable."
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them → cause → young
SportsBet maintained during the inquest that Hudson did not have a gambling problem.
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Hudson → maintain → problem
That’s despite accounts from Hudson’s family, experts and analysis of the extent of his online gambling activity.
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That → ’ → activity
"It is chilling that this is SportsBet’s view," Lowrie concluded.
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Lowrie → conclude → ?
Inquests examine gambling companies' player data
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Inquests → examine → data
Charles Ritchie of Sheffield, England, who started the charity Gambling With Lives, says inquests are an important tool to change laws and cast light on the gambling industry.
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inquests → start → industry
He became an advocate after his 24-year-old son Jack took his own life in November 2017.
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son → become → November
"We realized straight away that it was gambling that had killed him.
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that → realize → him
It was there in his suicide note," Ritchie told CBC News, detailing how Jack had started gambling as a teen and got hooked online after a fluke win of 1,000 pounds ($1,870 Cdn) on an electronic gaming terminal.
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Jack → tell → terminal
Jack Ritchie’s online gambling addiction led to his death, a U.K. coroner found.
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coroner → lead → death
Ritchie says an inquest into Jack’s death in 2022 validated that it was caused by gambling.
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it → say → gambling
Beyond that, he says inquests have become a valuable tool for grieving families to hold companies accountable if they have failed to intervene in cases of addiction.
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they → say → addiction
After someone’s death, he says inquests can analyze the deceased’s behaviour using player data and banking records.
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inquests → say → data
"When we look at those figures in the raw…
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we → look → raw
Somebody is, at four o'clock in the morning, having hundreds of bets, is losing hundreds of pounds.
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having → have → pounds
You as a human being would say, ‘This is wrong.
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This → say → being
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
