The executive committee of the city of Toronto recently voted 10-3 to back a report recommending expanded gambling at Woodbine Racetrack in northwest Toronto. Mayor John Tory said, “I am confident that this is going to serve as a catalyst to bring jobs, to attract jobs to a part of the city that desperately needs them.” The report estimates 1,000-1,400 new jobs would be created.
The full city council will have to approve the recommendation.
The expansion would add 2,000 slots and 300 table games at Woodbine, which currently offers 3,000 slots and electronic poker games that generate $15 million annually for the municipality. City staff estimate that revenue sharing could double to $30 million due to the expansion. Jim Lawson, chief executive officer at Woodbine, said the expansion also could double the number of annual visitors to as many as 12 million. Woodbine alone generates about 30 per cent of all gross gaming revenue from Ontario’s 20 slots and casino sites.
The report also recommends the casino be part of an “integrated entertainment complex” including an upscale hotel, restaurants, a bar and club zone, cinemas and high-end shopping, producing even more jobs and revenue for the city.
Public health officials insisted that the city continue to promote responsible gambling, and that the casino close six hours a day, from 4 a.m. – 10 a.m.
With talk surrounding a possible gaming expansion at the Woodbine Racetrack in Rexdale, and residents seemingly on board, some are asking where the sudden change in mind has come from. A few years back when talks of expansion swirled, the residents were up in arms, debated vehemently, and was so unpopular the idea quickly fizzled out.
Many of the exact same people who once opposed the notion are back on board. They aren’t alone though, as politicians, journalists, and others in the area have changed gears, praising the possibilities of an expansion, and what it can bring.
A telephone poll showed that exactly 50 percent of residents are in favor, while 16 percent oppose the notion of expansion, leaving 34 percent with “mixed feelings.” Rexdale is known as a rather economically depressed area. Nearly a quarter of the area’s families are poor, while 40 percent of working adults are barely cracking minimum wage with part-time jobs.
As it stands, the local government taxes could double to nearly $30 million with an expansion, and it looks like a good portion of residents couldn’t care either way.
