Canada's $15-billion gambling industry is emphasizing the positive in a new report that points to its payroll, contribution to government coffers and key role in supporting the hospitality business.

Gambling is "larger than magazine, book, spectator sport, movie theatre and performing arts sectors combined," the Canadian Gaming Association said Thursday in a release about the report.

"We would like to focus today on the good things gaming has done," said consultant Robert Scarpelli of HLT Advisory Inc.

He wrote the report, which includes the impact of casinos, slot machines, bingos and government-run lotteries.

The study says:

• The industry contributes $15.3 billion to the economy (including food and entertainment spending).
• Consumers spend $14.5 billion a year on gambling alone.
• About 57 per cent, or $8.6 billion, goes to governments and charities.
• The industry accounts for more than 50,000 jobs.
• Current capital construction is close to $10 billion, nearly half in Ontario.

Gambling generates almost as much revenue for the hospitality business as full-service restaurants, and is ahead of accommodation ($14.3 billion) and air travel ($11.9 billion for Canada’s two major airlines).

Dark side of gambling

The industry's pitch didn't sit well with Toronto lawyer Tracy Warne, who said the report failed to look at how much of revenue comes from the pockets of addicts, the people who become "social tragedies" because of serious gambling problems.

"I was horrified by how much money they are making," he said,

Warne once won a case against the Ontario Lottery Corp. on behalf of a gambling addict who was so hooked, he asked to be excluded from provincial gambling houses.

"I'm reasonably certain that it was the Ontario government that published the statistic that three to five per cent of the gamblers produce 25 per cent of the profits. What does that tell you? It tells you that a significant percentage of gamblers are mentally ill and they are the ones the casinos make the biggest level of profit from," Warne said.

Scarpelli said that wasn't the point.

"There are a lot of studies out there that deal on the social side of things," he said. "The focus of this study was on economic benefits and economic impacts."

For most people, gambling is a joy and an entertainment, he said.