A city councilmember in Cornwall, Ontario last week Tweeted that the city should invite a casino to help generate economic growth.
Councilor Mark MacDonald cited technological advances in casino gaming that enable the city to build a casino around the electronic versions of bingo, pull-tabs and Nevada tickets. He said he preferred raising money this way to raising taxes.
“I think we should be investing in growth and development,” he later told the Seaway News. He added, “The biggest thing we as a council have to do is tackle the long term financial challenges of the city. We should be modernizing with the latest technology. We have land we can develop now.”
He doesn’t favor cutting the budget, “It’s like Old Mother Hubbard, you go back to the cupboard, but the cupboard is bare. To cut is to delay,” he said.
City officials say the city has tried in the past to interest casinos, but that it has no way to do that because the provincial government runs the casinos.
