City council approved today a motion to again ask the province for two gaming zones in Ottawa.
Mayor Jim Watson previously asked Premier Kathleen Wynne and Finance Minister Charles Sousa for two locations, but they did not respond.
The city is referring the motion to the finance and economic development committee to be held on Aug. 26, for council consideration on Aug. 28.
Last week, the city’s finance committee vote 10-1 to support the Rideau Carleton Raceway as “the only location acceptable” for an expanded gaming facility, despite strong strong protests from Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, who implied he would launch legal action against the city if it passed the motion.
But the new motion petitions the province for another gaming hall as well as the continuance of slots at the Rideau Carleton Raceway – and the establishment of 21 approved gaming tables at that location.
Both Niagara Falls and Toronto have been allotted two gaming zones, said Watson, despite the fact that the former has a population of around 80,000 while Ontario’s capital, though larger in population than the nation’s capital, has a smaller land mass.