Yes, Casino Niagara Will Survive

NAL casino a go

By Doug Draper

It was a pretty good turnout of media for an announcement that has been predicted for most of this week.

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor confirms casino will stay open. Photo by Doug Draper

“Casino Niagara is here to stay. It is a done deal,” said Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor at the start of a media conference he hosted this March 16 in the lobby of the casino.

The announcement puts to rest any doubt that may have lingered through the past week about the fate of the casino – one of two operating in Niagara Falls, Ontario – and to the jobs of the hundreds of people who work there. It does little, however, to soften the blow for neighbouring Fort Erie where it was learned this March 14 that the provincial government will be closing the 13-year-old Slots facility in that border community at the end of this April – a decision that kills more than 200 jobs there and puts in jeopardy the adjoining horse racing track that counts on some of the revenue from the Slots to pay its way.

“I wanted to keep the race track going. I wanted to keep the Slots going,” said Craitor, but for the past three years the provincial government was guaranteeing up to $5.6 million annually to help the race track survive and with the exchange rate “going the wrong way” on the Canadian dollar and security measures discouraging as many people from crossing the border, the track and Slots are no longer attracting enough customers.

The casinos in Niagara Falls face similar challenges, he said, but the provincial government is committed to keeping them alive and see that they play a “pivotal role” in modernizing the gambling industry in Ontario.

The gambling at Casino Niagara goes on.

One reporter at the media conference asked Craitor why, when it appeared he has known since this past Monday, March 12 that Casino Niagara would remain open, he waited four more days before making the announcement and “removing a cloud” that has been hovering since this past February when a report to the province by economist Donald Drummond recommended closing one of the Niagara Falls casinos. Craitor could possibly have spared the casino’s employees days of worry, the reporter added.

 “Is anyone here upset that we kept this casino open,” responded Craitor as some at the media gathering, including councillors and business representatives for the city, applauded. “That is your answer.”

Later, in a smaller scrum of reporters, Craitor said he still wasn’t completely sure this past Monday that both casinos would remain open. He said he was sure by this past Wednesday though.

“We are all delighted that this casino is going to stay open,” said Niagara Falls city councillor Janice Wing. “This is an economic driver for the region.”

Following the media conference, a walk through two floors of Casino Niagara found far fewer than half of the slot machines manned by customers. The sidewalks outside the casino and leading up Clifton Hill were jammed with people enjoying the unusually warm and sunny March day.

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