I swear that Grambling Review is not a Canadian website…not that there’s anything wrong with that. We have been covering Canada a lot lately and I am here with more Canadian news, this time about Prince Edward Island. To recap our Canuck coverage so far, British Columbia has launched North America’s first online casino, which was shut down for security purposes and then re-launched. Quebec plans to launch an online casino in the fall and Ontario wants one launched by 2012. Newfoundland and Labrador opposes online gambling and Nova Scotia is all for it, even though the Atlantic Lottery Corporation is against it and wants to protect their own gambling monopoly.

Prince Edward Island, a tiny Canadian island province with only a little over 140,000 residents, may be the next to rock the ALC’s boat. Though the province is also a member of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, recent reports suggest that it is considering legalizing and regulating online gambling in order to grab an estimated $50 million in revenue.

Wes Sheridan, Finance Minister of Prince Edward Island, said that since many residents are already gambling on overseas online casinos – something he considers dangerous – the best thing he can do for the people is provide a safe, regulated online gambling industry. An added benefit would be that $50 million the market could generate.

At this point, it seems that Sheridan and the rest of the government are open to several options, which could include Prince Edward Island opening their own online casino or the Atlantic provinces sharing one. Since Nova Scotia also wants online gambling, that may be the best idea.

Sheridan told CBC News that he proposes that the government “go forward and put a site up there to compete with these offshore entities and play in a regulated, policed kind of fashion.” Of course, the idea that an online casino is safer if the government runs it seems a little silly when you consider British Columbia’s PlayNow.com debacle.

Are you sick of hearing about Canadian provinces and their deals with online gambling? I hope not. We’ve already heard about British Columbia’s adventures with their online casino, Quebec’s plans to launch an online casino this fall, PlayNow.com, Ontario’s plans for an online casino by 2012 and Newfoundland and Labrador’s opposition to online gambling. I’ve even written about the speculation – largely unfounded – that Alberta may move to regulate online gambling as well. Therefore, I may as well mention Nova Scotia.

Even by Canada’s standards, the province of Nova Scotia is kind of inconsequential for the rest of the world. It’s a small piece of land with fewer than 54,000 residents. Still, sources say that the province’s government is planning to introduce online gambling legislation. This despite the fact that the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, which is the lottery for four governments – including Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island – is opposed to online gambling.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation currently runs their own online gambling monopoly, PlaySphere, which sells lottery tickets and allows gambling games such as bingo and keno. Perhaps there is a conflict of interest there, in that they want to be the only game in town. Maybe Nova Scotia can satisfy them by approving an online casino but having it featured on the PlaySphere website. Then again, we’ve seen that online casinos run by governments instead of private businesses aren’t necessarily a good thing.

Graham Steele, Finance Minister of Nova Scotia, supports bringing online gambling to the province and said that they can do it even if all four members of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation don’t agree on the issue.