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OLG Toronto/GTA casino proposal (where to put it?)

TOperson said:
I have my doubts about whether Council really has a veto power. Just a hunch.
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Disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich went on a media blitz when first charged with corruption. The mad man kept on saying "the fix is in." For some reason these four words come to mind when discussing a casino in Toronto.
 
That's ridiculous. How can council not have a say where it goes? Just refuse to give a yes or no answer. The big players have already said where they want to put it, so all council has to do is choose which proposal they like the best (assuming their answer is yes to a casino in the first place) and then say that we'll take that one or none at all. The OLG will then have a choice between something "iconic" by one of the big casino operators or building another casino Niagara type place out in the burbs (assuming one of them wants it) where it's less likely to bring in the type of money they were hoping for. As far as I'm concerned, it's the city holding all the cards here, not the province.
 
ttk77 said:
That's ridiculous. How can council not have a say where it goes? Just refuse to give a yes or no answer. The big players have already said where they want to put it, so all council has to do is choose which proposal they like the best (assuming their answer is yes to a casino in the first place) and then say that we'll take that one or none at all. The OLG will then have a choice between something "iconic" by one of the big casino operators or building another casino Niagara type place out in the burbs (assuming one of them wants it) where it's less likely to bring in the type of money they were hoping for. As far as I'm concerned, it's the city holding all the cards here, not the province.
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It's because Ontario municipalities actually do have less power than provincial governments. This goes all the way back to the British North America Act. It's what allows the province to just up and amalgamate municipalities, among other things.

In any case, Ontario municipalities never had the power to just refuse developments they don't happen to like. If it's a legal business and the proposal meets planning regulations and so on, the municipality doesn't really have grounds to reject it. Guess who decides these kinds of disputes? A provincial body, namely the OMB.

Now, I would be very interested to know exactly what are the regulations etc governing casinos in Ontario, particularly re: municipal powers over them, but that info isn't easy to find. If you have good links to this info, please share.
 
The bargaining power comes from the province having said they won't impose a casino on a community that doesn't want it. The city can then say we want a casino under these conditions or we don't want one at all. That forces the province to either accede to the city's wishes or publicly go back on their promise.
 
ttk77 said:
The bargaining power comes from the province having said they won't impose a casino on a community that doesn't want it. The city can then say we want a casino under these conditions or we don't want one at all. That forces the province to either accede to the city's wishes or publicly go back on their promise.
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Uh, governments promise one thing and then do another all the time.
 
TOperson said:
Uh, governments promise one thing and then do another all the time.
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Depends. Few people expect governments to follow through on election promises anymore, and given they have an entire term to follow through on them it's easy to forget what was promised. A politicians willingness to break a promise is directly related to how much trouble it will get them in if they don't follow through. Given how much this is in the public eye and how divisive an issue it is, I expect if the province goes back on this promise it will cause a political s#&t storm.
 
ttk77 said:
Depends. Few people expect governments to follow through on election promises anymore, and given they have an entire term to follow through on them it's easy to forget what was promised. A politicians willingness to break a promise is directly related to how much trouble it will get them in if they don't follow through. Given how much this is in the public eye and how divisive an issue it is, I expect if the province goes back on this promise it will cause a political s#&t storm.
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Your argument has gone from "the city can holds all the cards" to "the province would have to go back on its promise" to "if the province went back on its promise it might cause a ruckus". (Not that a ruckus would actually change anything. It didn't help the teachers much.)

So basically, the province holds all the cards.
 
TOperson said:
Your argument has gone from "the city can holds all the cards" to "the province would have to go back on its promise" to "if the province went back on its promise it might cause a ruckus". (Not that a ruckus would actually change anything. It didn't help the teachers much.)

So basically, the province holds all the cards.
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Really? Have you not been paying any attention to the political situation in this province right now? The city has the upper hand if they choose to take it.
 
Filip said:
So let's hope the province is smarter than the city and hands Oxford the cards.

Clearly city-building has fallen on the wayside.
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I like the Oxford proposal too, but still think it should be up to the city to choose which proposal (if any) goes forwards. The province/OLG will be more concerned with which proposal will make them the most money rather than which will fit in best with the city.

Recent polls indicate that a (slim) majority of Torontonians support a casino, and I suspect it will make it through a council vote. I just hope the city decides which one they want before the vote and makes any yes vote provisional on getting the proposal they choose.
 
ttk77 said:
Really? Have you not been paying any attention to the political situation in this province right now? The city has the upper hand if they choose to take it.
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The political situation in this province right now is immaterial, because the laws and regulations haven't changed, and they still favour the province. Which is not surprising because they were written by the province.

A Toronto casino has been in the works for years. A LOT of money is at stake. The province wants this. They're not going to roll over just because some people are unhappy, and they don't have to.
 
ttk77 said:
I just hope the city decides which one they want before the vote and makes any yes vote provisional on getting the proposal they choose.
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You can hope all you want - the city does not have the power to set ANY conditions on the casino.
 
After seeing the renders of the MTCC/Oxford proposal. I have to change my vote for preferred location of the Casino from the Exhibition to this location.

This central location will provide the greatest boost to the Convention/Trade Show business that Toronto so desperately needs right now.
I want to see this Resort-Casino be a great success and this single project will add thousands of jobs to the Toronto economy. Jobs are something the city badly needs right now.

I think there is still a lot of potential to add year round vibrancy to the Exhibition lands. Maybe it's time to list for sale a few parcels at the Ex to see what proposals come up?
 
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