After a morning of debate Tuesday, council voted 40-4 in opposition to any new gaming sites in the city. The four in favour of gaming expansion were Ford and Councillors Giorgio Mammoliti, Vincent Crisanti and Norm Kelly.
The vote came after city manager Joe Pennachetti released new figures showing the city would be paid a $40 million fee for hosting a downtown casino.
That’s far short of the minimum $100 million the city wanted under a revenue-sharing proposal with the province that Ford called a “pretty good deal.”
Ford attacked Premier Kathleen Wynne for what he called a change of attitude at Queen’s Park.
“It seems no deal is good enough for this premier,” the mayor said. “The fact is she simply doesn’t want a casino, at least not in Toronto.”
At Queen’s Park, Wynne brushed off Ford’s criticism.
“I don’t think this is a personal debate between me and any other politician in the province,” Wynne said. “I think this is about a principle, which is municipalities should be able to make this decision.”
Anti-casino forces that have fought a casino for the past year were delighted with the vote.
“We could only hope way back when that this would be the outcome, and the fact it is the outcome, we are ecstatic,” said Peggy Calvert, of No Casino Toronto. “We couldn’t be more ecstatic.”
Mammoliti called the vote “a shame” and said the province needs to act to help Woodbine racetrack.
City staff had suggested increasing the slots at Woodbine to 4,500 machines from 3,000 currently, and adding 150 table games. But council voted 24-20 against any gaming expansion in suburban Toronto.
“We’re disappointed,” said Woodbine president Nick Eaves, who was surrounded in council by 200 casino workers wearing lime green T-shirts with the slogan Woodbine Jobs.
Eaves expressed concern that a major casino could be located in Vaughan, hurting Woodbine.
“If that goes ahead, then Woodbine’s ability to compete will be severely compromised,” he warned.
Ford had tabled a motion that recognized there wasn’t majority support for a downtown casino and urged council to support expanding Woodbine. The motion was defeated 31-13.
Ford’s council speech constituted his first public remarks since reports appeared last week about a video allegedly showing him smoking crack. The mayor made no mention of the controversy. He avoided reporters and left city hall after the vote.
Meanwhile, anti-casino stalwarts on council were happy to comment.
Councillor Joe Mihevc said he was surprised to see the overwhelming 40-4 vote.
“I think what people on council were feeling was the energy and vitality of their residents, who’ve been calling and emailing and pushing the reluctant people in the right direction,” Mihevc said.
“It shows the power of democracy. All those community leaders, the faith leaders, who said this is no way to build a city, got heard. And this vote reflects that.”
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Paul Moloney
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