The prospect of a new casino divides councillors along urban/suburban lines (what else is new?)

Meeting in their various community councils on Tuesday, Toronto city councillors discussed the possibility of opening a casino in Toronto. A clear (and by now familiar) pattern emerged, according to the Globe, with the folks from Scarborough generally in favour of the idea, and downtowners like Adam Vaughan arguing that casinos would be a blight on the city. In many ways, the disagreement isn’t unlike most of the disputes we see at city council. True to their conservative cred, people like deputy mayor Doug Holyday see them as a viable source of funding for things like transit. And since people will be spending losing their money voluntarily, conservatives would no doubt see casino revenues as far less coercive than tax revenue. But Vaughan is more concerned about things like keeping the waterfront pleasant, which for him means casino- (and Ferris wheel-) free (indeed, he proposed that zoning laws be changed to prohibit the construction of one downtown). All of this comes as Ontario Lottery and Gaming is pushing for the mother of all gaming establishments to be built at the beleaguered Ontario Place. This could get interesting. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »