Strategy session for sports betting bill scheduled in Ottawa

NDP MP Brian Masse is getting some backup, as he attempts to stickhandle a sports betting bill through Parliament.

In February, Masse introduced a bill that proposes to give provinces and territories the power to allow betting on single sports events, if they choose. That bill, which is known as C-221,is coming up for second reading on Tuesday.

To support that effort, some members of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce will be heading to Ottawa, along with representatives from the Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian Gaming Association.

• MP Brian Masse resurrects sports betting bill in House of Commons

Those groups plan to hold a strategy session there, in hopes of promoting the aims of the proposed bill.

Matt Marchand, the president and CEO of the chamber of commerce, said in statement Friday that this bill could be a real benefit for the economy.

In terms of a local impact, Marchand believes it could help protect the employment of people working at the casino in Windsor. And he estimates it could help create an additional 100 jobs at that facility.

Prior betting bill died

Masse's effort to bring the betting bill forward comes a few years after Joe Comartin, his former parliamentary colleague, introduced a bill that also aimed to allow single-sport betting.

That bill passed in the House of Commons, but failed to progress in the Senate.

Last fall, the three New Democrat MPs in Windsor-Essex had pledged to revive the bill in the new Parliament.