The Parq Vancouver casino apologized and said it is categorically against racism, following some accusations it faced from the Canadian rapper Drake.
A few days ago, the rapper used his official Instagram account’s story to call Parq Vancouver “the works run business” he has ever seen. As revealed by Aubrey Drake Graham, what the real name of the rapper is, the casino did not permit him to gamble, in spite of the fact that he provided the staff with everything they had originally asked him to.
He was not happy with the treatment received at the Parq Vancouver and alleged the venue’s staff of racially profiling him.
In the weekend, Drake was in Vancouver for two shows from his Aubrey and the Three Migos tour. He seems to have decided to go to the casino an have some fun but as he wrote in his Instagram story, he was denied to do so. After the post was released, a flood of negative comments filled the Parq Vancouver’s website, blaming the gambling venue for the incident.
Parq Vancouver Complies with Strict Gambling Regulation in BC
The gambling venue responded to the accusations in a couple of statements released on Saturday. Despite the fact that the Parq Vancouver did not name the rapper, it revealed that the incident was being actively investigated and apologized for the situation which was described as “the experience our customer had”.
What the casino also explained, was that the staff were not profiling the customer but only complying with the gambling reforms carried out in the province of British Columbia. Joe Brunini, the President of Parq Vancouver, apologized for the situation but denied that racism was the reason because of which Drake was denied to gamble. According to the new rules, which were rolled out by the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC) in January 2018, local casinos are required to gather thorough information about the source of a patron’s funds for all transactions of CA$10,000 and more.
@Drake putting parq casino on blast is the funniest shit I’ve seen in a minute ????
— sn (@snand_) November 3, 2018
As Mr. Brunini wrote in the statement, the Parq Vancouver casino currently operates in “one of the most complex, highly regulated industries” in the country, with the venue always looking to improve its customer and communication service. He highlighted the fact that the casino is aimed at offering “safe, secure and enjoyable” experience to all its customers and that it categorically stand against racism of any kind.
Narinda Nagra, the director of marketing at the casino, also said that the Parq Vancouver took the matter very seriously but reminded that the venue needed to adhere to the province’s very strict gambling regulations. The stricter regulatory regime was rolled out after there were findings that British Columbia casinos were used as “laundromats” by organized crime groups and international organizations as part of illegal money-laundering schemes.
