Although Saskatchewan bingo halls and casinos are supposed to close Saturday, according to the provincial government’s latest regulations, City Centre Bingo is already closed. General Manager Gordy Ouellette says when capacity was lowed to 30 people at the end of November, they realized it would cost more to stay open. That meant laying off 40 staff.

Ouellette says after the lockdown, when bingo halls were allowed to re-open, they went above and beyond in their safety regulations including hiring more staff for cleaning, buying two machines that kill viruses and bacteria, making masks mandatory before the provincial regulations went into effect, contact tracing, and going from a capacity of 710 to 225.

In late October, the Saskatchewan Health Authority announced that City Centre Bingo had a super spreader event. Ouellette says that kind of labeling can kill a business, and community transmission happens everywhere. He adds that although they offered to hand over their contact tracing list to the SHA, they never took them up on it.

Ouellette questions the provincial government’s decisions around what can remain open and what needs to close, saying VLTs remain open, even though they are usually in small spaces. He also wants people to know that bingo halls in Saskatchewan are not privately owned. They are operated under an umbrella licence. For instance, City Centre Bingo is owned by 55 member charities and they raise on average $3-million a year for these charities, so the money goes back into the community.

Along with bingo halls and casinos closing as of Saturday, personal care services must reduce customer occupancy by 50 per cent.