By Brent Kerrigan
The City of Gloucester has moved ahead of Ottawa in the race to land two permanent charity casinos designated by the province for the Ottawa-Carleton region.
This means a proposed casino in the Byward Market has a slim chance for survival.
Carnival Hotels and Casinos, an American-based company that also owns Casino Rama in Orillia, told city council last week it intends to build a casino in the 22,000 square-foot room formerly used by the Winners department store, located in the Gloucester City Centre.
Company officials told Gloucester council the casino will create 300 full- and part-time jobs and 300 indirect jobs, resulting in an annual economic spin-off of up to $50 million. Carnival hopes to have the casino open by August.
Carnival’s presentation was followed by questions from area residents, who were divided on the proposal for the casino.
“Let’s not pretend we’re here to legislate morality,” Bill Marsden, an area businessman, told council. “Let’s face it, people enjoy gambling.
“I’ve been a resident of Gloucester for over two years now. This is a great relief for me to see some money coming in that will reduce our taxes.”
But Christopher Cleary, a Grade 9 student at Gloucester High School, told council many of his schoolmates will get into the casino despite Carnival’s plans to bar anyone under 19.
Cleary says the casino will also lead to increased crime in the area.
“I’ve heard about gangs and beatings and that scares me,” Cleary told council. “We are against having a casino so close to the high school.
“Kids will be around there all the time. I know most are under-age but they will still try to get in.”
City councillors were also criticized for holding only one public hearing on such short notice. They are scheduled to meet again April 14 to examine the results.
But Gloucester Coun. Michael Denny says he doesn’t want council to repeat the City of Ottawa’s mistake by delaying approval and then having to watch the casino operators move on to another city.
Ottawa Council recently voted against approval in principle for a casino. Instead, it decided to hold public consultations on the issue which are scheduled to begin April 28.
This decision led Star of Fortune, an international gaming company, to freeze its plans to construct a casino on the site of the old Caplans building close to the Rideau Centre.
“I think some members on the Ottawa council had a lot of negative things to say toward casinos,” says Denny. “It makes sense that business would rather be in an area with the support of council.”
Denny says a charity casino will act as an anchor for existing businesses, keeping gamblers in Ontario who would otherwise cross over to Quebec’s Casino de Hull.
“I think they would rather go down the road and keep the money in Ontario.”
But Ottawa Coun. Elisabeth Arnold disagrees. She says Gloucester Council has acted irresponsibly toward its constituents by only scheduling one night for public hearings on the matter.
“We (council) have no control over these locations,” says Arnold. “In fact, I’ve been talking to some people from Gloucester and they are rather shocked to hear about this.”
Arnold says Ottawa will still hold public consultations on the issue of casino gambling in Ottawa April 28.
Following that meeting, council will decide whether to allow casinos and how to evaluate them.
Arnold says Ottawa council will listen to the public’s concerns before making decisions about any further casino projects.