Residents, community activists, OLG representatives and politicians attended a consultation about a proposed Toronto casino Saturday.
Coun. Michael Thompson was among those in attendance, at the meeting at Parkway Mall near Ellesmere Road and Victoria Park Avenue in Scarborough.
Thompson told CP24 that the meeting was an important chance for his constituents to learn about the “different perspectives” on a “very divisive issue,” as well as ask questions about how a casino might impact them.
The Scarborough councillor said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll support or oppose a casino.
The meeting comes after news that the OLG added the city of Vaughan to its list of possible locations for a casino in the GTA. Toronto, Markham and Mississauga are already on the list of possible sites.
OLG President Rod Phillips said the casino will bring revenue and jobs to whichever community it is located in. He gave the example of the city of Brantford, where he claims around 900 jobs were created after a casino was built in 1999.
Brantford Mayor Chris Friel was also at Saturday’s meeting.
Friel, who was initially opposed to the idea of a casino in Brantford, said he wanted to share his city’s experience with others.
“We want you to understand that it is not the most amazing thing ever and it is not the worst thing ever – it’s somewhere in the middle,” he said.
Friel said Brantford’s downtown has been completely revitalized thanks to hosting-fee revenues from the casino there.
With the casino revenue, the city built a collection of downtown satellite campuses for Mohawk College, Nipissing University, Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College, he said.
“We chose as a community to build a post-secondary campus system in our downtown,” he said. “That was a decision we made to revitalize our community and build something more with that money.”
Friel said that since the casino opened there has been no noticeable impact on social services or bankruptcies.
He said that last year 64 people in Brantford sought help for problem gambling, though he said many of the addicts were “cross addicted” to other forms of gambling such as lottery tickets.
In terms of crime, Friel said police respond to an average of 270-casino related calls a year.
Sheila Lynette, of the group “No Casino Toronto,” was also at the meeting.
The group opposes the building of a casino in downtown Toronto, arguing that it will increase traffic and grid lock and cause higher crime and problem gambling.
The group also argues that a casino is not a sound source of revenue.
Lynette said that while research has shown that casinos can help smaller communities like Brantford, Toronto is a different story.
“I don’t think it’s the same for Toronto,” she said. “We don’t need a casino in the middle of our vibrant city.”
Lynette said she isn’t convinced that the city needs to casino, even for job creation.
“All you have to do is go downtown and see all the cranes,” she said. “I’m not sure that we need a casino to create these jobs. I think there are a lot of jobs in Toronto right now for the carpentry industry.”
Toronto city council is expected to vote on the casino in May.
