пятница, 29 марта 2013 г.

Stakes of a downtown Toronto casino still unknown

Imagine this. You walk onto a casino floor and approach a card dealer. “You should play,” the dealer says, pointing at the green felt table in front of him.


“OK,” you say, considering it. “What are the rules?” The dealer shrugs, not answering. “How much money could I win?” The dealer shrugs again. “How much could I lose?” Again, another shrug.


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Finally, the dealer asks a question of his own. “Look, do you want to play or not?”


It sounds ridiculous, I know, but that scenario isn’t all that different from Toronto’s nearly year-long debate over whether it might be wise to stick a big, flashy casino in the downtown core.


In that debate, casino lobbyists and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation have urged Toronto to dive into an agreement without offering concrete numbers on revenues or realistic projections on the real social and environmental cost of adding a mecca for gambling in the city’s downtown core.


Call me idealistic, but I don’t think the process for locating a new casino in the GTA should be this complicated. I have some ideas for how it should have worked.


First, OLG should have given us more honest data. What can Toronto realistically expect for an annual hosting fee? What are the projected impacts on our transportation infrastructure?


How will this impact small businesses? What about social costs? Above all, OLG should be less a cheerleader for the idea of a casino and more a neutral party providing information.


Once that information is out there, council should have simply voted on whether to proceed any further. If our elected officials really can’t come to a decision, send the issue straight to the people with a referendum.


Simple.


But instead the process has been a total mess from Day 1. Since last spring, city hall has been harried by casino lobbyists representing major U.S. gambling players, working every day to convince councillors that Toronto badly needs an “integrated casino resort” — whatever that means.


Meanwhile, the provincial government has remained conspicuously coy throughout the whole ordeal. It was their budget directive that unleashed the debate, but MPPs and the premier have been careful not to directly endorse a downtown gambling venue. There’s a sense they’re trying to have it both ways.


We got word last week that this already too-long debate will be dragged out some more. Staff at city hall say they need more time to complete their study. But a delay at this point is totally unnecessary.


There’s very little left to talk about.


The pro-casino side has had their chance to convince Toronto to play this game. It’s been almost a year.


But we still don’t even know the stakes.

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