A special city council meeting to debate a proposed casino complex will go ahead after all.

After Mayor Rob Ford announced last week that he had cancelled Tuesday’s meeting, a majority of councillors has signed a petition to ensure the debate goes ahead as scheduled.

The petition, spearheaded by Coun. Mike Layton and signed by 24 of 45 council members, was rubber-stamped by the city clerk Sunday, meaning the meeting will take place whether the mayor wants it or not.

Layton urged council members to put the item back on the agenda, saying a majority of them is prepared for a debate and the city has allowed enough time to elapse without voting on the matter.

In a 9-4 vote last month, Ford’s executive committee gave its blessing for a gaming complex at Exhibition Place or within downtown Toronto, subject to almost 50 conditions.

Ford faces a tougher fight at Tuesday’s meeting, as several councillors have already declared that they will oppose the proposed venue.

Both sides are trying to gather the minimum 23 votes needed to approve or kill the proposal.

After he scrapped the special meeting, Ford said the casino debate is dead because the province hasn’t committed to giving the city an annual casino hosting fee of $100 million.

Ford and other casino proponents are hoping for a hosting fee in the nine figures, but the province hasn’t specified how much the city would receive.

Last week, a Toronto Star report, citing unnamed sources, pegged the city’s annual hosting fee at $53.7 million, nearly half the amount Ford was expecting.

Premier Kathleen Wynne has repeatedly said casino-hosting communities will be treated equally, ruling out a special funding formula for Toronto.

In another twist, Paul Godfrey was dismissed last week as chairman of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.

Godfrey said the OLG’s board resigned after he was let go.

Godfrey told reporters he wasn’t given a reason for his dismissal, but Wynne indicated to him the government was “going in a different direction.”

@ChrisKitching is on Twitter. For instant breaking news, follow @CP24 on Twitter.