Casinos are a great place for natural selection to take its course. The way I see it, a Casino downtown could give the area a more Monaco-Cannes-Nice sort of feel... along with Tiff in the area and all. Too bad drinking in public is still illegal in North America. One day! #progress#
 
A new DRL line and these two mega projects (Oxford Place and Mirvish+Gehry Toronto) if built, will take Toronto to "world class" status:cool:
 
Tewder said:
You MUST also be opposed to legal cigarettes and alcohol then too, right? I certainly hope you don't ever touch either of them because based on your position here you'd be just about the biggest hypocrite around these parts!
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Don't be silly and read my posts.

If people overwhelmingly want casinos built in their wards they should be allowed to have them. Taxes can be used to internalise costs, then. That's how we deal with drugs and other socially costly matters.

Since most Torontonians do not want a casino in their wards, I would rather we respect that wish than force one on them. As things stand the biggest casino proposers live nowhere near the proposed sites, and shouldn't have any political authority to impose one onto unwilling communities.
 
RC8 said:
Don't be silly and read my posts.

If people overwhelmingly want casinos built in their wards they should be allowed to have them. Taxes can be used to internalise costs, then. That's how we deal with drugs and other socially costly matters.

Since most Torontonians do not want a casino in their wards, I would rather we respect that wish than force one on them. As things stand the biggest casino proposers live nowhere near the proposed sites, and shouldn't have any political authority to impose one onto unwilling communities.
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Are you kidding me?? This is essentially ground zero for commercial mass tourism in Toronto. Anybody living here has got to understand this.
 
Most Torontonians wouldn't want a sewage treatment plant either, but...

This whole debate would be a different matter if we were talking about introducing gambling to the province, but that horse has long left the barn. Gambling is just part of the entertainment options mix and it's clear that millions love it. This project looks pretty good to me as long as it's done right and with maximum benefit for the city.
 
jaycola said:
Glad to hear the casino has been approved for the city of Toronto proper...
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City Council has not approved a casino in Toronto. Yesterday the Executive Committee voted to engage in public consultations about whether or not residents want casinos. No decision has been made yet.

From CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/11/06/toronto-casino-revenue-questions.html

The executive committee agreed Monday night to arrange for public consultations to be held in the months ahead.

But there are still big questions about how much money a Toronto-based casino would generate and how much of that would wind up in the hands of the city.

Critics say they need more details about the numbers in order to form an opinion on the casino issue.
 
mikeyteeth said:
City Council has not approved a casino in Toronto. Yesterday the Executive Committee voted to engage in public consultations about whether or not residents want casinos. No decision has been made yet.

From CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/11/06/toronto-casino-revenue-questions.html

The executive committee agreed Monday night to arrange for public consultations to be held in the months ahead.

But there are still big questions about how much money a Toronto-based casino would generate and how much of that would wind up in the hands of the city.

Critics say they need more details about the numbers in order to form an opinion on the casino issue.
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This is a foolish move by council. This is the perfect time to get the project approved - there is no election any time soon, and lots of time for other issues to take the forefront before an election comes. All they have managed to do is turn the whole thing into a circus. Every bozo in the city that is against a casino will be banging their drum at these "public consultation" meetings and ultimately they risk losing a much needed revenue stream. A very foolish move on their part.



(What I mean by the "bozo" label is that the only people who are likely to make loud demonstrations about a casino are those opposed to it. Those who would favor a casino are unlikely to make loud protests to have a casino - so at the end if the day council only hears one side of the public's interest in casinos.)
 
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Big Daddy:

Except that the decision to consult wasn't made by City Council - it's by the Executive Committee, which is arguably more pro-casino.

AoD
 
It is ridiculous that they are doing "public consultations". As if they are going to take into consideration about anything they say. City council wants the casino but they simply aren't sure of themselves so they just bide their time until they realize how to do their own jobs.
 
nopacnone said:
Casinos are a great place for natural selection to take its course. The way I see it, a Casino downtown could give the area a more Monaco-Cannes-Nice sort of feel... along with Tiff in the area and all. Too bad drinking in public is still illegal in North America. One day! #progress#
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Natural selection...public drinking? Do tell. Do you mean the losers will be strung out with a mickey along FrontW- a panhandler's row perhaps. Less like Monaco-Cannes and more like Detroit-Windsor imo. That said I'm not entirely against the proposal as a whole, it's the casino first and the rest 'might' come later aspect that is highly suspicious, not to mention they have little idea how much cash will actually go to the city.
 
I don't think a Casino would be the end of the world for Toronto, nor a fantabulous werld-klass glitz-ball we can't live without.
I think prudence, without prohibition is the right course.

First off, information would be key.

I think we need time for studies and results to comprehensively show the public the general workings, rewards and drawbacks of casinos across North America and Canada. That means solid, independently gleaned numbers.
We need information on sites and pros and cons for those sites. Isn't it odd we're suddenly supposed to be approving two casinos?
We need a clear list of who is pushing for these politically, as well as lobbyists.
We need good architectural renderings and building information.
We need a city-wide referendum.

If this was done, say, in nine-months time, that would be enough time to get a good citywide information campaign together, and set up the voting referendum.
The casinos have waited this long, surely a few more months wouldn't hurt.

As for Oxford, I don't much like their 'casino first or nothing' attitude. I'd expect something more serious in both the planning and financial department than this bit of malarky. It's a bad bluff, and unseemly. If Oxford is serious about developing a megaproject downtown, a casino as funding mechanism and launch strategy can't be serious.
 
Big Daddy said:
(What I mean by the "bozo" label is that the only people who are likely to make loud demonstrations about a casino are those opposed to it. Those who would favor a casino are unlikely to make loud protests to have a casino - so at the end if the day council only hears one side of the public's interest in casinos.)
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Moreover the people who will complain the loudest will likely be among those most dependent on govts programs funded by the Casino.
 
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