Executive committee votes in favour of downtown Toronto casino

Mayor Rob Ford’s 13-member executive committee has voted 9-4 in favour of a casino in downtown Toronto.

The matter will now be voted on at city council’s regular monthly meeting on May 7-8.

The committee also voted to direct casino revenue to transit.

Despite leaping the important hurdle, it looks like council is poised to reject a casino when it votes next month. CityNews.ca has learned twenty-five city councillors are against a downtown casino, with the most fervent anti-casino voices being Coun. Adam Vaughan and Coun. Mike Layton. Council would need 23 votes to kill the casino.

Seven councillors, including Frances Nunziata, Vincent Crisanti and Norm Kelly, say they support a Toronto casino. The mayor and his brother Coun. Doug Ford are strongly in favour of the idea.

Eight councillors, including Michelle Berardinetti, Glenn De Baeremaeker and Mike del Grande, remain undecided.

Earlier Tuesday, Toronto police chief Bill Blair said he had no opinion on the megacasino, but admitted money laundering at such a facility was a “significant concern” for law enforcement.

The location and size of the casino would affect the cost of policing, Blair said, in response to questions from councillors, and the bill would not be covered by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG).

“The responsibility for investigating organized crime…is not the responsibility of the OLG, it’s the responsibility of police,” Blair said.

Blair told the committee that adding slots to Woodbine led to increased traffic in the area but not an increase in criminal activity and “certainly not organized criminal activity.”

He added, “I don’t offer an opinion one way or the other” on the casino.

Blair was responding to questions from the executive committee as they debated whether to host a downtown casino resort.

Coun. Vaughan, who’s against the casino, asked Blair if crime would increase if one was built in the city.  He cited a Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) study that said crime went up in Vancouver after a casino was introduced, including human trafficking and money laundering.

Vaughan was cut off by Ford.

The 13-member committee heard from more than 200 deputants on Monday and debated a report by city manager Joe Pennachetti on Tuesday.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Pennachetti said the city should receive a minimum of $100 million a year from the casino, and that number could climb as high as $148 million, a figure that has been disputed by the province. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has said she has no idea where the revenue sharing figures cited in Pennachetti’s report come from.

“We must recognize that there will certainly be a casino,” he said.

“Council may either consent to a casino or say no to a new casino…If they say no, we will notify the OLG immediately and they will then pursue their 905 option.

“If council says yes, it is only a conditional yes, and the OLG must engage a proponent procurement process and provide a report to council that our conditions would be met,” he said.

Staff said Tuesday that the CNE casino provides $4 million in net revenue. That casino is open for just 20 days every year and 45,000 people attend.

As for Woodbine, 4.5 million people visit the slots every year and the city gets just under $16 million in hosting fees.

Pennachetti said that if the OLG put a casino in the 905, it could steal business from Woodbine.

“The worst-case scenario is casino next door to Woodbine, which would cannibalize Woodbine,” he said.

Other possible casino spots

However, not all municipalities are putting together a proposal for a casino, Pennachetti said.

“The OLG wants to pursue Toronto first. Markham did have a vote and it was a narrow vote against. There’s been no vote in Richmond Hill, Vaughan or Mississauga,” he said.

Expanded convention space is the key to the proposed development, according to Pennachetti’s report. He said Toronto should aim to be one of the top 10 convention destinations in North America (it’s currently 33rd), which would bring in an additional 130,000 visitors a year and generate about $392 million annually.

“It looks like the business case for just a convention centre is right here,” Coun. Shelley Carroll said during Monday’s meeting.