Early this morning, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa wrote to Mayor Jim Watson, rejecting the Ottawa mayor’s request for two gambling sites in the Ottawa area.
Watson quickly turned around this note to council, which was forwarded to the media. The Finance and Economic Development meeting is about to start, so the instant analysis will have to wait. Here is it for your perusal:
Dear Council Colleague,
When Council last met on July 17th, I indicated that I would engage with the Province of Ontario to clarify the Province’s and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s position with regards to the proposal that the OLG grandfather the Rideau Carleton Raceway as a gaming facility while creating a second gaming zone for the rest of Ottawa.
Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, has informed me in writing that the Province will not authorize the creation of an additional gaming zone for the City of Ottawa. His letter is attached to this memo.
The motion which the Finance and Economic Development Committee was to consider at its Special Meeting of August 26th is largely superseded by the Province’s decision. That motion called on the Province of Ontario and the OLG to create a separate gaming zone for the Rideau Carleton Raceway, without which Council would move to designate the Rideau Carleton Raceway as the only location for an expanded gaming facility in the City of Ottawa.
In light of this response from the Province, a substitute motion will be tabled at today’s meeting consistent with these recent developments.
Recently, two Councillors suggested that Council should defer a vote on the Casino matter because the Province’s Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel has not yet tabled its final report on the nature and level of transition assistance, and other support measures, which could be provided to the horse racing industry by the Province of Ontario. In fact, the Panel is only expected to provide to the Premier “a concrete plan for a long term sustainable horse racing industry in Ontario, effective April 1, 2014.”
In my view, Council’s position on where a gaming facility should be located and the future of the horse racing industry are two completely separate issues. It is my opinion that a solid majority of Members of Council would prefer to maintain the existing slots facility at the Rideau Carleton Raceway – now that the issue of two gaming zones has been clarified by the Minister of Finance. Further, Council now has the option of reaffirming its support for the proposal to add 21 gaming tables to the slots facility at Rideau Carleton Raceway, consistent with its March 2011 position.
The Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel was created in June 2012 and has been considering measures to support the industry for over 14 months.
Although the Panel is expected to report this fall, I think it would be ill advised to further delay Council’s decision on the appropriate location for a gaming facility in the City of Ottawa.
Irrespective of the Panel’s recommendations, Council still has to make a decision about where best to locate a gaming facility. Once Council has made a final decision on this matter, the OLG can proceed with the selection of the best operator to run the gaming facility at the Rideau Carleton Raceway as part of its competitive procurement process.
Over the course of the last two years, thousands of residents have provided their feedback to us – individually and at Committee – in the form of e-mails, calls, letters to the editor, through social media and in person, and I feel we have sufficient information to make an informed decision at this point in time.
Further, reverting to the Rideau Carleton Raceway as Council’s only location is in keeping with Council’s January, 2011 decision to ask the OLG to add 21 gaming tables at the Rideau Carleton Raceway to complement the existing slots facility.
With regards to the OPH recommendation to fund programs for problem gambling, which will be before Council this Wednesday, I would suggest that this issue cannot be considered in isolation from all of the City’s other significant budget priorities, including that of maintaining sufficient funding for the City’s social services and programs which are already under considerable strain.
Services for problems gamblers are currently funded by the Province of Ontario which is also appropriately responsible for the province-wide strategy to address problem gambling.
Further, the Province of Ontario receives the lion’s share of funding generated by OLG lotteries, slots and gaming facilities. Over the course of the last ten years or so, Ontario municipalities have successfully argued for the continued uploading of the cost of social services from municipalities to the Province of Ontario.
From a policy perspective, I do not believe that it would be fair to municipal taxpayers to undertake to share in the cost of programs aimed at problem gamblers.
In my opinion, a more effective approach would be to ask the Province, through the OLG, to increase its share of funding for programs that address problem gambling. In that regard, I support the Ottawa Board of Health in their request to OLG and the Province to allocate $2.0 million on an annual, on-going basis to the Champlain Local Health Integration Network, an increase from current funding of $741,000, to address the funding gap for community-based gambling treatment services in Ottawa. The Board of Health has also asked that I co-sign the letters of request to the Province and the OLG, on matters related to this funding, as well as other letters related to gambling addiction and treatment and I will be doing so.
Jim Watson
Mayor
City of Ottawa
