Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority
The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (or SLGA) is a Treasury Board Crown Corporation responsible for the distribution, control and regulation of alcoholic beverages and most gambling in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs the government monopoly on liquor sales and gambling in Saskatchewan. Its head office is in Regina. It distributes liquor to its 80 stores and approximately 190 franchise operators from a distribution centre in Regina. There is an administrative office in Saskatoon.
SLGA is the main distributor of and sole licensing agent for the sale of beverage alcohol in Saskatchewan. It owns and manages all video lottery terminals (VLTs, i.e., networked video slot machines) and owns and manages the slot machines at five casinos operated by the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA). There are 3,929 VLTs in 669 sites located in 312 communities in Saskatchewan.[1] SLGA licenses and regulates most forms of gambling: bingos, raffles, casinos, instant gambling tickets/breakopen tickets (scratch off or tear to open), poker events, monte carlo events and horse racing. SLGA also registers all provincial gambling employees and suppliers. Gambling accounted for 6.5% of the government's revenue in 2003.[2] Over one-half billion dollars are spent on gambling each year in Saskatchewan.[3]
The New Democratic government decided in 2005 to authorize the SLGA to allow off-sale establishments in the provinces to sell hard liquor to consumers, in addition to cold beer and wine. The decision made Saskatchewan the third Canadian province - others are Alberta and British Columbia - to allow private business owners to sell all types of alcohol-containing beverages for off-premises consumption. The government decided, however, that the network of government-owned liquor stores would not be dismantled, as was done in Alberta. It was also decided that, in order to limit the number of private outlets, it would not adopt the model used in British Columbia, where "stand-alone" privately owned retail outlets have opened. All Saskatchewan off-sale outlets are attached to a licensed "on-sale" establishment. The government also decided that the off-sale outlets would be required to purchase all of their spirits from the SLGA, at government store prices, the same prices as for any other consumer (in contrast to British Columbia, where the private stores receive a 13 percent discount). Finally, the government decided that the franchise-style territorial restrictions that limit the number of off-sale outlets in Saskatchewan's two largest cities (Saskatoon and Regina) would remain in place. The Saskatchewan Party government elected in 2007 has rejected further privatization of the SLGA.
The agency also regulates Sask Gaming, the crown corporation responsible for operation of two of the casinos in the province.
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