Manitoba to launch online gambling site

The Manitoba government is getting into the online gambling business.

Lotteries Minister Steve Ashton says the province will have a website up and running by early next year, offering poker and other games.

Ashton says the site will be run in partnership with British Columbia, which has been operating its own online casino for two years.

Ashton says Manitobans are already spending an estimated $37 million a year on unregulated gambling websites, so the government website will keep some of that money here.

The government plans to dedicate five per cent of net revenues from the site to fund gambling addiction treatment programs.