You don't deserve to be a parent if you leave your kids in the car while you gamble. WHY WHY WHY? It's just disgusting. You aren't fit to be a parent. To these parents, I say, shame on you.... you should be locked up and put away, your kids taken from you.
Gambling is a problem. Yes, I agree but when you involve your children with your addiction, you're asking for trouble.
[H2]Children left alone in cars outside casinos[/H2] [H4]Over three years, 41 people were banned from premises for leaving young children alone in vehicles[/H4]
More than 40 people have been banned from B.C. casinos over the past three years for leaving their children alone in the car while they go inside, according to B.C. Lottery Corp. internal records obtained by The Vancouver Sun.
"Most of them are there to gamble. . . . But there are some who have gone in to look for a spouse or something," Bob Leach, manager of casino security for BCLC, said in an interview.
Coquitlam RCMP has responded to several such incidents at that city's casino and a spokeswoman said officers have found children as young as three left alone in cars.
While most children are found during the day, Leach said a few have been discovered as late as 3 a.m. at some of the province's 24-hour casinos -- left there by both parents and grandparents.
In response to a freedom of information request, BCLC provided The Sun with a list of recent barrings at its casinos.
Most are for criminal activity on the casino floor -- such as pickpocketing or loansharking.
But over a three-year period, from 2003 to 2005, a total of 41 customers were barred for the offence of "Abandoned Children" -- with the ban usually lasting one year.
No one under the age of 19 is allowed in a B.C. casino, so people cannot bring their children with them when they gamble.
Garry Smith, a gambling expert at the University of Alberta, said those who leave their children alone are likely gambling addicts, not casual gamblers.
"They're overwhelmed by the urge to gamble and everything else becomes secondary," he said.
And while they may only plan to gamble for a few minutes and then retrieve their kids, research on gambling addicts suggest they lack that self-control.
"Problem gamblers will gamble for longer than they expect, and because cash is readily available [in casinos] at ATMs, even if they don't have money on them, they can keep getting it," said Smith.
Leach said parking lot patrols are so frequent that he expects most children left there are found within 15 minutes.
"They're not out there for a great length of time," he said.
Unfortunately, some gamblers with children park their cars a few blocks away.
Cpl. Jane Baptista of Coquitlam RCMP said police were called to a vehicle in a lot near the casino one afternoon in October 2004, where they found a three-year-old child alone.
And in May 2005, at 3 a.m., they found a nine-year-old girl asleep in a car near the casino who told them her mother was gambling.
"It's a tough thing to see," Baptista said. "It's so dangerous. The wrong person might come by. . . . It's frustrating and quite scary."
The largest number of cases of abandoned children, by far, is at Great Canadian's Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam, which has had 15 incidents in the past three years. The second-highest was Gateway's Burnaby casino, with five.
Leach said he had no idea why Coquitlam had so many cases.
When children are found, Leach said, the casino usually makes a public announcement asking for the owner of the vehicle to come forward.
"Most of them are apologetic and very cooperative," he said. "[They say] they're sorry and won't do it again. That they don't usually do this. . . . We get all sorts of excuses
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