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

The political situation is most certainly not immaterial given that there is quite possibly an election coming within the next year and the winner is anything but certain. The liberals will not want to risk alienating Toronto voters by going against their wishes (if the city should decide it doesn't want a casino) and backing out on a very public promise. Not sure why you can't see that this.

On a related note (just watching the news), while reiterating that it is each community's decision as to whether or not they want a casino, Kathleen Wynne indicated that she is personally against them.
 
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jaycola said:
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.
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Really? Care to show some statistics that show downtown Toronto stagnating on either department?

Here I was thinking we were experiencing the boom of the century in both departments. The suburbs aren't doing too well, though, maybe we should put the casino there?

Also, I propose we consult BMO, TD, KPMG, etc. about whether they want their offices to be located walking distance to a mega-casino. If we are scaring businesses away from the core then any jobs made by the casino will be moot.
 
ttk77 said:
The political situation is most certainly not immaterial given that there is quite possibly an election coming within the next year and the winner is anything but certain. The liberals will not want to risk alienating Toronto voters by going against their wishes (if the city should decide it doesn't want a casino) and backing out on a very public promise. Not sure why you can't see that this.

On a related note (just watching the news), while reiterating that it is each community's decision as to whether or not they want a casino, Kathleen Wynne indicated that she is personally against them.
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You just said upthread that politicians break their election promises. I can easily see that happening with the casino proposal. That is, assuming the issue hasn't already been decided well before the election.
 
This was not a campaign promise. It was a very public promise on a very divisive issue and there will be consequences for breaking it if that happens. Given recent comments by our premier-to-be though, I'm fairly confident that won't be an issue. With her personal stance against casinos I find it highly unlikely that she'd go back on her own words and force one on a community that doesn't want it.
 
RC8 said:
Really? Care to show some statistics that show downtown Toronto stagnating on either department?
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statcan.gc.ca
According to Stats Can Toronto's Unemployment rate December 2012 was 8.3%. 279,500 unemployed individuals. Compared to Ottawa at 6.6% and Hamilton at 5.9%, even Oshawa's unemployment rate is 7.3%. Nationally the rate was 7.1%.

I'd say the city is in need of the employment this project will bring to the city.
 
ttk77 said:
This was not a campaign promise. It was a very public promise on a very divisive issue and there will be consequences for breaking it if that happens. Given recent comments by our premier-to-be though, I'm fairly confident that won't be an issue. With her personal stance against casinos I find it highly unlikely that she'd go back on her own words and force one on a community that doesn't want it.
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If they break campaign promises why wouldn't they break other ones? As for Wynne, she's a politician, and she's already campaigning - they all are - so it IS a campaign promise. And she might not win.

But it's probably moot because the decision will already have been made before a provincial election.
 
jaycola said:
statcan.gc.ca
According to Stats Can Toronto's Unemployment rate December 2012 was 8.3%. 279,500 unemployed individuals. Compared to Ottawa at 6.6% and Hamilton at 5.9%, even Oshawa's unemployment rate is 7.3%. Nationally the rate was 7.1%.

I'd say the city is in need of the employment this project will bring to the city.
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If a casino is the only way anyone can think of to create jobs here, this city is toast.
 
TOperson said:
If a casino is the only way anyone can think of to create jobs here, this city is toast.
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If you can show me some other organization or industry that can bring thousands of jobs to the city by their appearance, you can be critical of letting a casino set up on our streets. I will support any proposal that will bring jobs in numbers such as this to the city.

I am not deluding myself that this is some sort of fiscal panacea. What this is is a non governmental organization willing to invest billions of dollars and employ thousands of people in our city. Maybe some people who are afflicted from a gambling addiction will suffer as a result, but if thousands more find valuable, full time employment, the costs may just be outweighed by the potential benefit.

The few proposals and limited information we have received so far has done nothing to dampen my support for this project.
Supporting it and making it great looks like a better option to me than blocking it and hindering any potential for it's success.
 
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TOperson said:
If they break campaign promises why wouldn't they break other ones? As for Wynne, she's a politician, and she's already campaigning - they all are - so it IS a campaign promise. And she might not win.

But it's probably moot because the decision will already have been made before a provincial election.
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I already explained why. You're not reading my posts so I'm done arguing with you.
 
In the news clip I heard, Wynne says she is not a fan of casinos, and she is not going to tell municipalities where to put them. But does that mean that she will just be hands off, and the OLG will continue to be involved or that there will be changes in the process? How much power does she have regarding how the process works?
 
I'm not an expert in government process, but I would assume at some level elected officials have to have the power to rein in government agencies that are doing things they don't like. The clip I saw was her at some kind of press conference, and from her tone I got the impression that she was going to stay hands off for the time being. She said she was not a fan of casinos but said nothing about stopping the current process. That, and the fact that she said she wouldn't force one on any community makes me think that she's still open to the OLG setting them up where they're welcomed by the community/municipality.
 
ttk77 said:
I already explained why. You're not reading my posts so I'm done arguing with you.
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I have been reading your posts. You keep contradicting yourself, going from "sure they break promises" to "but they promised!".

Apparently you believe that a casino promise is somehow unbreakable?
 
PinkLucy said:
In the news clip I heard, Wynne says she is not a fan of casinos, and she is not going to tell municipalities where to put them. But does that mean that she will just be hands off, and the OLG will continue to be involved or that there will be changes in the process? How much power does she have regarding how the process works?
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I think very little. The wheels are already in motion. Stopping them would mean Wynne would have to alienate quite a few stakeholders.

Plus there is the question of whether ANY Ontario premier can overrule a legal process on the basis of personal beliefs or political calculations. It's not democratic (which is not to say such things don't happen unofficially, behind closed doors and so on).

I think Wynne is making empty non-commital statements while she works out which stance will be most politically advantageous to her.
 
TOperson said:
I think very little. The wheels are already in motion. Stopping them would mean Wynne would have to alienate quite a few stakeholders.

Plus there is the question of whether ANY Ontario premier can overrule a legal process on the basis of personal beliefs or political calculations. It's not democratic (which is not to say such things don't happen unofficially, behind closed doors and so on).

I think Wynne is making empty non-commital statements while she works out which stance will be most politically advantageous to her.
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I think the biggest challenge any premier of this province would have if they wanted to lead Ontario in a direction away from casinos would be replacing the revenue streams. Long before any member of the Ontario public became addicted to gambling....our government(s) did and it is a hard habit to break.
 
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