The debate over whether to hold a referendum on allowing a casino to set up shop in Toronto has been deferred to the executive committee.
City council voted in favour of the deferral during a meeting Wednesday afternoon.
The executive committee will now consider several motions, including one put forth by Coun. Michael Thompson that could see a referendum held as early as October.
"There is a lot of things that we need to work on, so that's why it's important that we don't kill this thing and that we do our homework," Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti told CP24. "We have to ask all the right questions. Infrastructure, jobs, we have to do all of that stuff."
The sudden debate over casinos within the City of Toronto comes in the wake of an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. report released in March touting the benefits of placing a casino in the GTA.
In the past Mayor Rob Ford has said he would be open to the idea, given the revenue it could deliver to the city, something Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday reiterated Wednesday.
"Right now we are getting about $15 million a year from the slots at Woodbine (Racetrack) and I'm told that with a full-blown casino it could be 10 times that, and that would at least provide us with a big benefit from the casino," he told CP24.
Holyday, who said he's ultimately on the fence on whether to bring a casino to the city, added that he'd like to see any revenues potentially brought by one put into expanding the city's subway network.
"I have not been a casino supporter in the past, and I am still probably not, but it seems there is a lot of support for it and if one was to come I would just want to make sure the money goes where it is badly needed and that would be rapid transit and subways," he said.
In 1997, the City of Toronto did hold a referendum on a possible casino and 70 per cent of voters cast their ballots against the idea.
In an earlier interview with CP24 Wednesday, Mammoliti said if the city decides to hold another referendum, it should hold it in conjunction with budget deliberations.
"There are a lot of us that believe that a referendum is needed, but we should tie it into the budget," he said. "We have to let (taxpayers) know that perhaps it's probably property tax increases or casinos."
Social cost of casino may be too high: Layton
While some councilors are open to the idea of a casino at least one is speaking out about the social costs of problem gambling.
"A city gambling on a casino is kind of like a gambler walking into a casino expecting to win a jackpot. It just doesn't happen that way," Coun. Mike Layton told CP24 Wednesday morning. "The city will incur a significant cost and we need to make sure we know all those costs before we make any offer to host a casino."
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