City council made a mistake by rushing into a vote on the expansion of gaming facilities at Woodbine Racetrack, says Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday.
Holyday made the comment to reporters Wednesday morning, one day after city council voted 40-4 to reject the construction of any new casinos in Toronto and 24-20 against the expansion of gaming at Woodbine.
A motion from Mayor Rob Ford that would have left the door open for the addition of table games at Woodbine if the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation expressed interest was defeated 31-13.
“The best thing we could have done really was not deal with the Woodbine issue yesterday. The trouble with Woodbine is that it has been kind of wrapped in with the downtown casino, which has been very negative, and Woodbine has unfortunately suffered as well,” Holyday said. “I think if they were separated the positives of Woodbine could have been brought forward in a more forceful way and then council would have had a better handle on what they were voting for and I think Woodbine would have passed.”
Holyday, who had lobbied for a downtown casino in the past, said council should have added the Woodbine issue to the agenda for its next regular meeting as opposed to voting on it during Tuesday’s special meeting.
A staff report previously suggested that expanding the gaming facilities at Woodbine would generate about 4,855 permanent jobs and $47 million in annual revenue for the city.
Officials with the facility have also argued that they need the expansion to remain profitable and avoid widespread layoffs.
“It would have taken one or two weeks, but some councillors are just so impatient they couldn’t wait,” Holyday said.
Numerous councillors have previously spoken out against any casinos in the city, including the expansion of gaming at Woodbine.
“This was about the impact on the citizens of Toronto and the people of Ontario that didn’t want us to put forward a policy that encourages more people to get addicted to gambling and raises money in that fashion,” Coun. Mike Layton said of the dual votes on Tuesday afternoon.
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