The Canadian Gaming Association held its annual general meeting yesterday in Vancouver, adding new blood to its board of directors.
Considering how eventful a year it’s been on the digital-gaming and sports-betting front in Canada, especially with an openly competitive regulated Ontario market that as of today has 35 legal entities operating licensed gaming and sports betting platforms, it’s no wonder the CGA wanted to beef up the directors’ bench.
CGA president & CEO Paul Burns told CDC Gaming Reports that they held a members’ meeting all day Tuesday, talking about what’s going on in the British Columbia gaming market. Segev law firm, GLI and Strive had hosted a gaming meetup at Segev Monday night.
“We got to meet a lot of the folks in the B.C. gaming market,” Burns said. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to come west, with our new members in the Vancouver area. It’s an amazing gaming market. It’s pretty dynamic.
“Governments are getting into the position of watching how Ontario is evolving. It’s early days in terms of that. Lots of people in other provinces are watching, learning, and assessing. If and when they choose to engage, they’ll figure out what’s right for their market. Everybody will approach this differently, because gaming markets are unique in every province, and they’ll figure out what works for them.”
The CGA Board of Directors elected the following new members: Bruce Caughill, managing director for Rush Street Interactive (former chief legal officer with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario); Mark Harper, general manager at NS Sports for five years and a 25-year digital media sales veteran in Nova Scotia; Charmaine Hogan, head of regulatory affairs at Playtech (previously having worked on EU legislation and policy development in Brussels, both on behalf of the government and at the European Commission, she led the discussions with the European gambling regulators); Dale Hooper, general manager of FanDuel Canada (previous leadership roles with Rogers Communications and Cannabis Compliance Inc.); Niaz Nejad, senior vice president and head of marketing for U.S. and Canada at Aristocrat Gaming (previous was chief operating officer for the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission); and Scott Vanderwel, CEO of PointsBet Canada (previously a senior vice president at Rogers Communications), were elected to the CGA board.
“We welcome to Charmaine, Bruce, Niaz, Mark, Dale, and Scott to the CGA board and believe their experience will help the Association launch its new strategic plan to guide our growth and development over the next several years,” Burns added later in a statement. “Their subject matter expertise and professional skill set make them ideally suited to lead the CGA at this exceptional time, as we are evolving our way of working to meet the needs and be of service to our members, while driving our mission forward.”
