The great casino debate
Re Don’t delay casino vote, Editorial March 18 The whiff of BS is strong downwind of the great casino debate. The representations of OLG and MGM fail the credibility test. Hundreds of millions in fees and taxes for the city? Is that before or after the inevitable demand for a tax holiday when the shareholders grow impatient for returns?
The selfless desire of MGM et al. to help Toronto into the big league brings a tear to the eye, not for the developers but for the innocents at city hall who are lining up to swallow the bait in a sport where every fish is a sucker.
Our politicians should reflect on the historical evolution of Canadian gambling from illegal, to charity only, to Olympic debt retirement program, to regressive national tax system and on the fact that every successful operation soon attracts competitors and high profits disappear. Does anyone think that Mississauga, Hamilton, Pickering or Buffalo will not try to repatriate all the cash flowing into Toronto?
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and sounds too good to be true, it is probably a lame duck. Paul Collier, Former Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau said that the 1976 “Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby.” Then the city was left with a bill of more than $1 billion that took 30 years to pay down.
The future of casino gambling is online. What is the point of spending hundreds of millions, years of construction and huge operating costs on a bricks casino when a clicks one can be had for less than $1.5 million, two months of setup and much lower operating costs? In 2012, casino revenue in Atlantic City fell by 8 per cent. Afterwards New Jersey became the third U.S. state to allow online gambling. How long can Ontario resist doing the same? Building a casino in Toronto is a snark hunt where the casino will turn out to be a boojum and all hoped for profits “will softly and suddenly vanish away and never be met with again.” Moses Shuldiner, Toronto Re Can Toronto do Vegas? March 15 The answer is: who cares? This ongoing and nauseating debate about a casino in Toronto is so tiresome. One casino is not going to destroy the social and cultural fabric of the city. Toronto will not become Las Vegas. Many European cities have downtown casinos and they are still thriving cultural destinations. In fact, as Shawn Micallef points out, Toronto could do with some Vegas-style loosening up. We survived the arrival of attractive self-service LCBO outlets and even extended drinking hours. I’m sure we can handle a
“Anyone who knows a thing about gambling knows that the only winner is The House. The rest of us lose.” MICHAEL BOUGHN, TORONTO
casino, and I can’t think of a better location than the CNE grounds. Andrew van Velzen, Toronto Woodbine Racetrack already has gambling, is close to the airport and major highway access, and has room for development and parking. We have gridlock downtown with the Gardiner and Lakeshore. Why not Woodbine?
Lesley Chalmers, Toronto Research shows that a casino would drain $1 billion a year from the local economy, forcing restaurants and cultural facilities to close from lack of business. The 10,000 jobs promised would come from the 10,000 jobs lost in the community, as a billion dollars in local spending shifts to the casino.
Casino economics are parasitic. Max Moore, Toronto Anyone who knows a thing about gambling knows that the only winner is The House. The rest of us lose. Michael Boughn, Toronto The whole thing is one gigantic whopper. Maybe the mayor will swallow it, but smart Torontonians won’t. Martin Aller-Stead, Toronto Why not just set up a “Red Light District” on the Bridle Path to bring in those tourist dollars? Carol Trainor, Toronto What can we do to stop this madness? Please, can the Star help? Rita Cecchini, Toronto Destroying the uniqueness of Exhibition Place with a huge gambling operation would be an irreversible travesty. Robert Woodcock, North York Windsor has had a casino for 20-plus years and still has an unemployment rate among the highest in the country. R.G.M. Hopper, Scarborough