Toronto casino plan scrapped by city council
Canada's largest city won't be building a new casino anytime soon. Toronto city council has voted against plans to build a new casino in the city, dashing hopes of many major U.S. casino operators expanding into the lucrative market.
The rejection follows a long-running debate over whether the city would benefit from having a casino in Toronto. Mayor Rob Ford initially supported building a new casino in downtown Toronto, but later withdrew his support in favor of building one on the outskirts of the city.
But even that plan was quickly rejected by the city council. The council went further, quickly passing a motion to formally object to a new gambling venue in the city and rejecting a motion for a potential expansion of existing gambling venues in Toronto.
"The people of Toronto have been speaking out for 12 months and they've been very clear that they don't want casinos in Toronto," said City Councilor Mike Layton. "For the citizens who are taking part in this fight, this is A great victory."
While Mayor Ford is at least in favor of exploring the possibility of further casino expansion, he appears to agree with Layton regarding the Ontario government's specific proposals for a Toronto casino.
"Operating a casino in Toronto would do little to meet Toronto's financial needs and would only make the provincial government richer, which is not in Toronto's best interests," Ford said.
Several major U.S. casino operators have met with Ford in recent months and made proposals to open casinos in Toronto. Potential partners for the Toronto casino include Caesars Entertainment, Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts.
Ford has also dealt with an unrelated controversy; the Toronto Star and gossip site Gawker reported that a video showed Ford snorting crack cocaine, though Ford and his colleagues called the accusations ridiculous. Gawker is currently running an Indiegogo (online funding) project called "Crackstarter" to raise the asking price of $200,000 from the owner of the video.
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Source: www.casino.org
