Toronto council requests report on Woodbine gaming

City council voted Tuesday night to request that the city manager explore expanding gaming at Woodbine Racetrack


Thestar.com
April 1, 2015
By Betsy Powell

Three years after overwhelmingly rejecting a downtown casino, Toronto city council is prepared to explore the idea of allowing expanded gambling at Woodbine Racetrack.

A majority of councillors, including Mayor John Tory, voted Tuesday night to direct the city manager to draft a report on the economic and social implications of increased gaming at the sprawling complex in Rexdale.

The executive committee will consider the report, along with the results of a public consultation, at its June 30 meeting.

A key question is whether expanded gaming at Woodbine could serve as a catalyst to other investments and job creation in a part of the city “that has often been left behind,” Tory said Tuesday night on the council floor.

“I don’t know if this will be the answer, or part of the answer, but I do know that we owe it to ourselves and owe it to all the people who are looking for jobs and opportunity,” he told council.
During debate, several councillors made it clear they have little appetite for expanded casino gambling anywhere.

“Toronto ranks as one of the best places to live and do business, we’ve done all that without a casino, why would we bet that now,” said Councillor Mike Layton said.

Joe Cressy, who shares a neighboring downtown ward, said gambling revenue “disproportionately comes from those who are struggling. That is not a sustainable or equitable way to build a city and generate revenue.”

Councillor Shelley Carroll warned her colleagues to now be prepared to be “inundated by aggressive and ambitious and highly funded lobbying.”

She also urged councillors to understand the mandate of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) is to generate money for the province, not the city, and noted casinos in Ontario have also been losing millions of dollars for a decade - a trend that will continue with online gaming.

Tony Bitonti, OLG’s senior manager, media relations, said it is true “we have seen a decline in casino revenues,” particularly at border facilities due to a variety of factors, including the proliferation of casinos south of the border.

While OLG has expanded into on-line gaming, there’s no indication, so far, that it is cutting into the bottom line at casinos, he said.

“Internet gaming really does engage an entirely new demographic of lottery and gaming customers,” Bitonti said Wednesday.

While waiting for the city’s final report and council vote, OLG is accepting expressions of interest from private groups interested in being the gaming operator for the GTA.

That deadline closes April 30. OLG will then draft a short list of three to five organizations and invite them to submit final proposals.