By Doug Draper
When I posted story this January 31 on a short list of priority issues Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor hopes to discuss with Ontario’s incoming premier Kathleen Wynne, there was one key item I forget to include in that story.
Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor speaking last year on future of casinos in his Ontario border area riding. File photo by Doug Draper
That issue – and not a small one for Craitor and several others in Niagara Falls, Ontario, including the city’s mayor Jim Diodati – first surfaced a year ago this winter when the idea of closing one of the two casinos in Niagara Falls, Ontario and possibly opening one giant casino somewhere in the Greater Toronto Area.
While the province’s Liberal government eventually agreed to keep both casinos in Niagara Falls open, the government, along with its Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, also left open the idea of a gambling palace in Toronto, if enough supporters stepped forward to build and operate one.
The possibility that a real group of investors and others could be cobbled together to make a mega-casino in Toronto a reality continues to concern Craitor and other politicians and business leaders in the Niagara area because they believe it would draw people from the GTA and visitors to the province away from the Falls casinos. All that at a time when concerns have been raised across North America that the gambling industry across North America has already saturated the market with casinos as provincial and state governments, desperate for revenue because they won’t raise taxes, turn to slot machines, roulette wheels, and card and crap tables for cash.
If and when Craitor gets a chance to meet one-on-one with Wynne and raise his objections to a casino in Toronto, he may get a more sympathetic ear than he would have with outgoing premier Dalton McGuinty.
In one of two articles in this February 1st edition of The Globe and Mail – articles in which Wynne seems to be going out of her way to define herself definitely than McGuinty – she was quoted saying the following to reporters; “You all know that I’m not a fan of casinos,” she said. “I’m not a fan of gambling. We have them and they are here. And municipalities have to weigh the pros and cons, and they have to make a decision for themselves. ….”
That sure doesn’t sound like Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who believes his city has too many public libraries but is hankering for a casino because he sees it as a source of jobs and revenue, can count on much support from the premier’s office, at least as long as Wynne is there.
More than a few in Toronto are wearing this button.
There is also a strong coalition of residents, business representatives and city councillors in Toronto who are opposed to a casino. Among other things, they fear it will draw residents and visitors to the city away from restaurant’s and venues in Toronto’s downtown.
It will be interesting to see where all of this goes.
As one brief footnote, there are recent reports that Cadillac Fairview Corp., an investment arm of the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan for tens-of-thousands of elementary and secondary school teachers across the province, is actively looking at backing the building of a casino in Toronto.
Isn’t that nice? I wonder how many of these teachers talk to their students about the risks of gambling.
Oh, I know, I know, I know. When I have asked teacher union representatives in the past why, at one time for example, the teacher’s pension fund was investing in tobacco companies or why it was investing in companies laying off workers here and exploiting cheap labour oversees, they told me their teacher members have no say over where the corporate types make the investments.
Really? One of the most powerful group of unions in the country and their members have no say where their pension money is being invested. Other groups have found ways of making sure their money is going to ethical investments. They’ve done it because they have the will to do it, even if it means passing up some quick money for the greater good.
To read the January 31 post in Niagara At Large on other priority issues Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor plans to discuss with Ontario’s incoming premier click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2013/01/31/niagara-liberal-mpp-kim-craitor-has-a-wish-list-for-ontarios-incoming-premier/ .
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