Mayor Ford touts casino as ‘golden opportunity’

Mayor Rob Ford once again touted the “golden opportunity” a downtown convention centre and casino provides and warns this chance to boost revenue and create jobs is one the city likely won’t see again “for a generation.”

“I believe we should say yes, absolutely yes, on terms that work for Toronto,” he said Monday after a city report on a casino was unveiled. “This opportunity should be assessed on the facts, on the facts folks, not on emotion or political rhetoric.”

“The fact is this is a golden opportunity that may not come up again.”

Ford made the same remarks in an open letter shared with media on Sunday, adding gambling is not new to Toronto. The Woodbine racetrack in north Etobicoke generates more than $600 million in gaming revenue from 2,500 slot machines, for example. And there are off-track betting, Internet gambling and lotto tickets.

“The fact is Toronto needs more good paying quality jobs, and this will create 10,000 good paying union jobs,” Ford said.

City manager Joe Pennachetti released a staff report on a proposed Toronto casino Monday that listed 43 conditions, including a guaranteed minimum of $100 million in annual revenue for the city.

The mayor used statistics from that staff report to bolster support for a casino both during the news conference on Monday and in his letter. He said a casino would create 10,000 permanent jobs with an average salary of $55,000 and up to 11,000 temporary construction jobs. The mayor also says a casino would bring in $150 million annually.

Ford said the casino would boost business visits, with an additional 130,000 professionals spending $392 million in the city. Ford said the city, as the fourth-largest in North America, needs to become a convention hub — it currently ranks 33rd for conventions.

A report released by the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute last month questions the quality of the jobs an integrated casino resort would create. Read the report  here.

“It has been reported by workers from Niagara and Windsor that those casinos tend to hire only part-time workers and tend to blame the 24-hour and shift-based work as being unable to support full-time employment,” the report says. “The City of Toronto’s own website reports that casino workers in the city earn roughly $25,000 per year (before taxes).

“In general, casino jobs are not well-paid. They are not the kind of jobs that any city should be actively pursuing to increase.”

The Martin Prosperity Institute also notes that while some may tout increased revenue for the city, residents who live around a downtown casino will see their property values drop.

Last month, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne made it clear Toronto would not receive a special deal from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG).  There had been claims that a special funding agreement was in the works between the OLG and the city, with the agency offering between $50 and $100 million in hosting fees — an offer that eclipses what other municipalities have been given.

“The fact is OLG has been clear. There will be a new casino, guaranteed folks, in the GTA somewhere. If not in Toronto, it’ll be right on our border or right across the street,” Ford said.

But if OLG builds elsewhere it won’t benefit the province as much, and “Toronto won’t benefit at all,” he said.

Ford’s executive committee will hold public deputations and consider the report next Monday and Tuesday before the matter is debated at council next month.

The full text of the letter is below:

With files from Showwei Chu, CityNews.ca staff

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