Speaking at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas last week, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally offered no exact timeline on when Alberta might establish a regulated online gambling market, but he did give some insights into how he is approaching the process and how conversations are going.

He joked about the humour in someone tasked with reducing red tape insisting on regulations, but he also reiterated his passion around bringing regulated gaming to the province.

“To be clear, my job is not to reduce regulation,” he told attendees at G2E. “It’s actually to reduce red tape. We define it as duplication of regulation and unnecessary regulation.”

Nally wants to lead with the carrot, not the stick

For Nally, an open market creates what he sees as unnecessary limitations on the industry. Opening it up to grey operators is an example of what he called leading with the carrot instead of the stick.

“When you use incentives, I think you have more buy-in from the industry. And it’s a fundamental belief I have that the world is full of good people that sometimes make mistakes, and so you should meet that with coaching training.”

He applauded Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), explaining how he went on some ridealongs and was very impressed with how the provincial crown corporation officers educated those in violation as opposed to ruling with an iron fist.

That is why Nally is more open to converting the grey market than some opponents in Canada have been; he fundamentally believes these operators are good actors eager to comply and follow a regulatory model similar to what is available in Ontario.

His conversations with operators only affirmed his stance that they are people who deserve the opportunity to work within a regulatory framework.

“I will say I was pleasantly surprised by this, but what I heard from the industry was their commitment to responsible gaming, and I didn’t expect that message to be as loud as it was,” he added. “I love it because that makes my job easier as I go back to Alberta and speak to my colleagues and tell them about your commitment to responsible behaviour.”

Alberta committed to First Nations involvement

Cabinet members are not the only people Nally has had conversations with on the subject.

As Canadian Gaming Business has previously reported, conversations with First Nations groups began this summer. Nally spoke a bit about why the province is putting a lot of emphasis on making sure that the groups are comfortable with how gaming moves forward.

“We drew a line in the sand in 2019 when we got elected, and we said that we are going to treat First Nations as partners in prosperity,” he said. How that partnership will look is TBD.

According to Nally, it is the First Nations who are undecided about how things move forward.

“They want to have a role in this iGaming market. They’re not sure what it looks like right now. Is it going to be a partnership with a current operator? Is it going to be a consortium of First Nations that come together to launch their own brand? I don’t know where they’re going to land,” he said.

“Time will tell. Ultimately, we view them as partners in prosperity, and we welcome them into this iGaming space.”

Timeline dictated by enabling legislation approval

Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns moderated the panel Nally appeared on and ended the discussion by asking what, this time next year, Nally hopes to be saying about online gaming in Alberta.

“If I’m back here a year from now I’m bragging about [how] the Edmonton Oilers have won the Stanley Cup. We’ll be talking about an open and free market in Alberta, and I’m hoping that the feedback that I get is, ‘Thank you for making our entry into your market seamless and easy.’”

In order to do that, Nally will need to introduce enabling legislation that is approved by the provincial. The earliest that can take place is next spring, so whether or not October 2025 is before or after launch is very much still up for debate.