An Independent senator from Waterloo region is hoping to push her legislation against sports betting ads forward after an editorial published this week said the commercials could harm young people.

Senator Marty Deacon is using the momentum from the new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) to shine a light on Bill S-211.

Deacon represents Waterloo region in the Canadian Senate and has been raising the alarm on issues outlined in the editorial since 2023. Her bill calls for the elimination of all commercials that promote sports betting during broadcasts where minors are likely to see them.

“It’s an addictive behavior… it’s a great health concern,” she said during an interview on The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris on Tuesday.

Sports betting has been legal in Canada since 2021, but there are no rules around how it can be advertised. So in June 2023, Deacon had proposed legislation to create a national framework to regulate sports betting advertising, introducing Bill S-211 to the Senate.

Her legislation would create a framework similar to how advertising is regulated for alcohol and tobacco. Rules could include:

Limiting or banning celebrities and athletes from being in the ads. Limiting the number of ads that can be played or shown in a location or make, it so the ads couldn’t be broadcast.

After a brief interruption because of the federal election, Deacon says the legislation is still waiting to be brought back to the committee. She’s hoping to bring it back to the senate in early October.

LISTEN| Senator Marty Deacon shares update on her push to ban sports betting ads in Canada:

The Morning Edition – K-WSenator Marty Deacon shares update on her push to ban sports betting ads in Canada

Watch any sporting event on TV and chances are high that you’re going to see an ad for sports gambling. These ads have a negative impact on young people. And that’s been a major concern for Canadian Senator Marty Deacon. Senator Deacon talks more about the issue.

“We need a common approach, a national standard similar to alcohol, similar to tobacco ads, that is not patchwork. And that’s why the government has to take the lead on this,” Deacon said.

An emerging issue with long-term harms

The CMAJ editorial published Monday was written by family physician Dr. Shannon Charlebois, who is also the medical editor at the CMAJ, as well as Dr. Shawn Kelly.

While Kelly primarily focuses on substance use cases, he works with all addictive disorders, and has started to screen for gambling behaviour — something he believes is an emerging issue.

“I have seen an increase in harms from gambling in people who are under the age where they should be legally allowed to engage in any gambling,” he told CBC News on Monday.

“The typical story that I see in the clinic is a 13- or 14-year-old boy who has borrowed dad’s credit card, or mom’s credit card, engaged in some online wagering and lost a significant amount of money.”

Kelly says there are also other associated harms that come with gambling issues.

“We know that substance use goes up, we know that other criminality or delinquency increases as well,” he said, adding that there can also be an increase in suicidality associated with gambling behaviours.

WATCH| Better gambling regulation needed to protect children, doctors say:

Better gambling regulation needed to protect children, doctors say

An editorial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on Monday warns gambling advertising is affecting young Canadians, even if they aren’t being specifically targeted. Family physician Dr. Shannon Charlebois, who is also CMAJ’s medical editor and co-published the editorial, explains why children are particularly vulnerable to gambling ads and why it must be regulated on a federal level.

Charlebois says the brains of children and teens are still developing and the constant exposure to gambling messages normalizes harmful behaviours they can carry into adulthood.

“What’s very dangerous about this for children is that it’s normalizing a known harmful behaviour during an impressionable stage. And it’s really appealing in particular to youth who are genetically, biologically predisposed to enjoy risk-taking,” she said.

Charlebois says Deacon’s bill to regulate sports betting advertising would be a good start to addressing the problem.

‘It’s just everywhere’

Timothy Dewhirst is a professor and senior research fellow in marketing and public policy at the University of Guelph’s Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics.

He says ads for sports betting are everywhere right now.

“I’m a sports fan and so when I’m watching games on TV that are broadcast, it’s just filled with advertisements for sports betting companies,” he said.

“You see it on the jerseys of players. You see it when there’s sports updates of other games that the commentators are presenting…There’s ads on the field or on the ice rink… It’s just everywhere.”

He says parlay bets are especially concerning. Parlay is a type of bet that is connected to two or more other bets, most commonly in sports betting. All the wagers have to win together for the parlay bet to win. If any of the wagers lose, the entire parlay loses.

“You can imagine with all of these opportunities to bet, of how one could get in a financial hole very quickly,” he said.

“One recommendation I would make is to be eliminating these parlay bets of where it shouldn’t be so rapid fire.”

He says it’s important to consider the role of evolving technology.

“People can be betting from their smartphone and adolescents virtually all have smartphones now too. It just allows for a more rapid rate of gambling and sports betting taking place that we wouldn’t have seen. In the past, one had to maybe go to an actual retailer or go to [Las] Vegas to be placing such bets.”

LISTEN| How kids are getting hooked on sports betting:

The CurrentHow kids are getting hooked on sports betting

Gambling logos, ads and chatter are everywhere during hockey broadcasts, despite the harms that can come with betting. Raffaello Rossi of the University of Bristol has the numbers on just how much we were exposed to sports betting during the Stanley Cup playoffs. He hopes that Canada will eventually follow the lead of the UK and other European nations and bring in strict regulations.