City council has voted in favour of rejecting any new gaming facilities for Toronto, effectively shutting the book on a multi-billion dollar casino and entertainment complex proposed for downtown.
During a special meeting Tuesday morning, council voted 40-4 against the creation of any new gaming facilities within the city. In a separate vote council also voted 24-20 against the expansion of gaming at Woodbine Racetrack.
A motion from Mayor Rob Ford that would have rejected a downtown casino outright, but left the door open to adding table games at Woodbine Racetrack was defeated 31-13.
“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 told reporters following the vote. “This was about how we treat people in the City of Toronto.”
"The casino vote was what thousands and thousands of Torontonians asked us to do," added Coun. Paula Fletcher. "This is probably the biggest vote that we will have in our entire term."
The special meeting started at 9:30 a.m. at city hall after 24 of 45 council members signed a petition to hold the meeting over the weekend.
The petition, spearheaded by Layton, was created in the wake of Mayor Ford cancelling the vote and calling the proposed casino “dead” in a surprise announcement last Thursday. Ford had also said the issue wasn’t worth debating if the province wouldn’t guarantee a hosting fee of $100 million.
City manager Joe Pennachetti had previously estimated that a new casino complex in the downtown core would in fact generate a hosting fee of up to $148 million - however on Tuesday he said that number would be closer to $39 million.
Pennachetti’s estimate was based on a gaming floor of about 175,000 square feet and used a new Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. formula that was created after Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne warned the OLG against giving Toronto a special deal.
“I think that Premier Wynne has set Toronto up for a loss,” Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti told CP24 following the vote. “You know, we are trying to figure out what to do to make more money, we thought that the casino would help and in the middle of the process Premier Wynne fires the chair of the OLG.”
Ford, who had lobbied for a downtown casino in the past, did not speak with reporters following the vote. But during the debate, he said he no longer supports the idea because of the lack of support from the province.
“I rise today to send a clear message to the province that Toronto does not support a new casino in the C1 (downtown) zone,” Ford said. “Hosting a casino in Toronto that does little to address the city’s needs and simply makes the province richer is not in our best interest.”
MGM responds to vote
In a release issued Tuesday night, MGM Resorts said that while it was disappointed with day’s vote, it respected the wishes of the people of Toronto.
"Today's vote reflected the democratic process,” the release reads. “We’d like to thank not only Toronto city council for considering this opportunity carefully, but especially to those who stood up and spoke about how an integrated resort would create new opportunities, jobs and revenues.”
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