Waterloo, Kitchener, Woolwich and Casinos from the twitterverse

I wanted to post a collection of tweets from the last 24hours dealing with casino debates occurring across the province. Some are local some are not but a casino has the same stripes regardless of where it lives.

#Casino input to date: 1000+ survey, email, letter, Facebook messages. Have your say: waterloo.survey.esolutionsgroup.ca/TakeSurvey.asp… @citywaterloo
— Karen Coviello Scian (@karenscian) April 18, 2013

I would rather have a strong #Casino position - supported by 1000's of voices - than an apathetic one: Have your say! waterloo.survey.esolutionsgroup.ca/TakeSurvey.asp…
— Karen Coviello Scian (@karenscian) April 18, 2013

Finally!I hope blatant corruption of the #Liberals, #OLG, and their #casino cohortsrevealed @racing_future @rjgacem.therecord.com/news/canada/ar…
— Blair Burgess (@Desibesi) April 11, 2013

#Casino debate: How much of a tax break is a suicide worth? @queensu prof emeritus Dan Usher wonders #ygk bit.ly/XE5keo
— The Whig-Standard (@WhigStandard) April 11, 2013

Thanks for helping share this information! "@jimwaterloo: Give @citywaterloo your feedback on #casino here waterloo.survey.esolutionsgroup.ca/TakeSurvey.asp…"
— Brenda Halloran (@MayorBrenda) March 30, 2013

Listen Up Kitchener! "@richard_florida: Casinos = City-Ruiners - @huffpostcanada - huffingtonpost.ca/richard-florid…"
— Erin Rudland (@ErinRudland) April 18, 2013

Waterloo Region Casino - Fact

This week in the news we learned that Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin have created a $100 million fund development and commercialization of quantum computing.

“This combination of technology and business experience has given us a unique understanding and deep commitment that we believe will be instrumental to the success of both this fund and the ‘Quantum Valley’,” Lazaridis said.

I mention this story to further support that my view of the Waterloo Region is one of innovation  progress and world wide impact.  We have a proven track record of this and my view of our future is more of the same.  I believe that investing in casino and other gaming properties is a major step back for our region.  The success in our region will be measured by our impact on the world.

Another story this week was that the chair and CEO of the lottery corporation attended a meeting with  Premier Kathleen Wynne.  This meeting was called because the Premier wanted to ensure that all host municipalities were treated the same in the funding formula.  This is a result of the rumors that the Toronto casino location was not being treated fairly and they were being offered more money and compensation then other potential hosts.  The big problem here for me was that it appears that the OLG is willing to change whatever rules that it needs to to get into whatever market it wants.  On top of that what happens when the OLG decided to change the funding formula in the future.  Right when the Region becomes dependent on it, I don't trust the OLG.  This meeting with the Premier does not speak to a trustworthy corporation.

This is not just any corporation this is a government corporation that has revenues of 6.7 billion in 2011 according to Problem Gambling.ca's Facts About document.  The document also states that Ontario had the highest total government operated gaming revenue in Canada.  This is a major corporation and it should strive to be trustworthy and transparent.  The other truth about this and the fact that OLG is massively expanding throughout Ontario is that the Ontario Government, regardless of the political stripes of the Premier, is very much hooked on gaming revenue.  One might even say addicted to it.

It is a scary thought to know that the success of your province is rooted in how much money it can swindle out of its own people.  Does anyone else see a problem with that?

The next steps for Woolwich, providing that the other municipalities don't get involved, is to select location and attempt to woo private operators to work out a deal to set up a casino.  The two location that they have selected are very close to other municipalities and as far away from their own council chambers as possible.  So I understand that both Kitchener and Waterloo want to figure out what is going on and get their hands on the host compensation.  I believe that both municipalities still do not want to have a casino in this region they have a right to the compensation considering both locations are only a few kilometers out of their borders.

We have a responsibility to continue to speak out against this development and help brainstorm ideas that will lead to sustainable change and future progress.

Please visit, like and share the facebook page at noWRcasino.com.

Power to change the world?

Do you ever have that desire to go out there and make a change that inspires people?  Do you want to remove barriers to change the world?  The problem is that you have to get out of bed first.

I often have these ideas about making positive change but I often lack the enthusiasm to get started on them. As you can tell from my blog I am trying to share my views on the casino debate currently occurring in Waterloo Region.  I am trying to maintain the enthusiasm that I have to make, what I feel, is a positive change.  I guess it is more preventing a negative one. The region was not in favour of a casino development in the past but now that Woolwich township has agreed to invite the Ontario Lottery and Gaming corporation (OLG) into the region, the City of Kitchener and the City of Waterloo now will be debating these ideas in their respective councils.  So Woolwich opened the can of worms and now everyone is looking over their shoulder to get a look to see what's happening.

I believe the Waterloo Region is a leader in many initiatives in technology, education, local food production / distribution and social / restorative justice. A casino as a way to improve economic conditions is way off base.

So I decided to step it up a notch and I have created a facebook page to see what support an "anti-casino" movement may have.  The difficulty with municipal politics is that no one really knows what is going on.  I am hoping that I can help keep people informed and they can keep me up to date as well.  The power of a group of like minded individuals can be overwhelming. I have not really spent the time to expand my social networks beyond a close friend group so it is now up to you to help me share this page.

Democracy only works when you get out of bed and make things happen.

Thanks.

Casino Decision Day

Today is March 5, 2013 and tonight the Council in Woolwich Township will vote on whether to continue discussion with OLG to build a casino in the township.  Todd Cowan believes that Woolwich has the independent right to approve this project and build it so close to Kitchener and Waterloo without consulting them.  On top of that he feels that the township is entitled to all the profits with no regard for the social implications it will have on neighbourhoods in Kitchener or Waterloo or anywhere else in the Region of Waterloo. The proposed locations for this are either at the St. Jacobs stockyards (border with Waterloo) or at a property at 2069 Shantz Station Road (border with Kitchener).  Both locations closer to KW then Elmira.  This is like saying hey liver your screwed because I am going to go out party all the time I will have fun but you won't in 10 years but really your not my concern right now and I am just going to ignore you until you become someone else problem.

It is shocking to me to understand that this significant decision could possibly be approved by 5 people.  The Region of Waterloo forever changed because 5 people didn't do what the people wanted.  To add to this complicated situation, this Council is not know for is fiscal restraint.  In a time of tighter budgets they can't keep their own house in order.  Why would I want to give them more money to waist.  Do not believe for a moment that once they start raking in 4 million dollars they will instantly become financially prudent!

According to this article Mayor Cowan does not feel that the survey results of 62% opposed to the casino are valid.  I understand that only 11% of eligible voters voted but you only mailed one card per household and you mailed it during the Christmas holidays. Had someone else not brought it to my attention I would not have looked in my recycling box to find it.  It is like you only wanted 11% to vote just so you could discount them.  Let's also consider that only 26% of eligible voters made it out to the last municipal election in Woolwich which is a highly publicized even that occurs across the entire province on the same day.  I will remind you Mayor Cowan only 2777 people voted for you in the last election.

Many experts and highly qualified people have spoken to Woolwich council. The allure of free money has led many people astray.  I hope that these Councillors can see that nothing is for free.  My big concern right now is who is pulling these Councillors strings to approve this project?  What is in it for them personally?  I don't know.  What I know is that they asked the people of Woolwich and the people of Woolwich have said "No" to gambling establishments in the past, and they are saying "No" again now.  If anyone could show me any evidence at all that the people in Woolwich and the Waterloo region wanted a casino, I would withdraw my criticism of this project and let the majority decide.  I believe very strongly that this is not the case.

Some people argue that opposing this project means we are restricting peoples freedom and why should we stop at a casino we should ban alcohol, tobacco, lotteries, etc.  This is not why I oppose this project.  I oppose this project because this Region doesn't want it.  I oppose this project because it is not sustainable.  The money that people will use for entertainment is not currently hiding under their mattresses.  Money isn't magically created by bringing in a casino.  It is reallocated from the bowling alley, from the corner store, from the grocery store.  If you think a casino is good for business you are very misguided.  A casino is only good for its own business and everything it contains under its roof.  Everyone else looses.  So if you own a business in Waterloo Region you don't want this either.  Casinos don't bring tourist dollars into the region they fly in they gamble at the casino and fly out.  What makes you think they will come here instead of Hamilton or the GTA (also undergoing casino debate) ?

If you want to make your voice heard I would encourage all of the Waterloo region to email these Councillors and tell them if you think this casino in Woolwhich Township bordering on either Kitchener or Waterloo is a good idea.  If you support this project by all means let them know all of their email addresses are @woolwich.ca (tcowan, apoffenroth, jaherteis, mbauman, bbryant).  I suspect that an overwhelming majority of this region do not support this development.  I will be the first to say I was wrong if this is not the case.

You have a choice you can be a part of the "silent majority" that Mayor Cowan believes is in support of this casino or you can be a part of the vocal majority that does not support this development.  This is a democracy and your opinion matters!  Be heard!

No casino in my back yard please!

I have been doing a bit of looking around and I have found some more information on casinos and their impact on the local area.  I also found this site http://nowoolwichcasino.org which is informing people about this casino project (that's where I found to mouse trap image).  Please go over to the site and learn more about what is going on there.

I have also learned that OLG is trying to move the casino in Hamilton to a more downtown area and there has been a facebook group created to oppose that project.  There is a very lively discussion there as well with a lot of interesting information including this image:

While reading more on this topic of gambling and casinos the most popular voices from the support of casinos can be summed up in the following statements:

1. Gamblers will go where the action is no matter what any health, counselors or anyone else for that matter. May as well be here so we can reap the benefits.
2. If people might destroy their life due to gambling so we should not allow it then also we should not allow smoking, drinking or eating fat/sweet food.

#1. The question of benefits is a good one, here is a quote that I have found in a few places but couldn't verify 100%:

"In Atlantic City, within 4 years of the casinos opening, 40% of the city’s restaurants closed as did 1/3 of the retail businesses."

The reason for this was that the casinos became the "only game in town" and began to expand to include eating facilities and merchandise shops killing any other small market business.  Gamblers also prefer not to leave their gambling site if they don't have to.  Building a casino anywhere in Woolwich is not going to help any surrounding business.  This is not sustainable growth and development.  Being a resident of Breslau I see the township routinely overlooking us for services despite our rapid population grown.  We don't have a library, pool, arena or any other funded recreation facilities, and now they think Woolwich's big contribution to the Breslau area is a casino! I am thoroughly unimpressed.

#2. Now the question about what behaviors and products should be controlled by government and which ones shouldn't is much more difficult to answer.  However, this is why we have public debate and why all opinions should be heard and discussed so that the residents of the areas where these products are provided should be able to collectively decide.  The decision should also ensure that the community has been engaged and a large enough proportion of the residents (not just respondents) should be in favour of this project.

• Smoking is a very highly controlled behaviour because it doesn't only affect the health of the smoker.  It also affects the health of all those around the smoker by second hand smoke.  Cigarette packages also have strong warning messages on them informing the smoker regarding the behaviour they are engaged in.
• Drinking and alcohol are also very tightly controlled in Ontario with sales only permitted in certain licensed establishments.  Servers of alcohol and there place of work can be found criminally responsible if they over serve a customer and that customer gets into there car and gets into an accident.  I don't know if the law extends to the black jack dealer in a casino in the same way.
• Fast food / unhealthy food choices are slowly becoming more regulated as well, where more nutrition information needs to be made more available.

The reason that these 3 behaviours are regulated by government is because of the potential to addiction and thus significant health problems. For those of us who do not suffer from true addiction we have a hard time trying to understand what it means.  For others it is a very real and very significant problem.  Problem drinkers, gamblers, eaters and smokers do NOT choose to have this problem.  Yes, they may have made poor choices earlier to get to the problem stages, but they don't choose to loose all their money at a card table, they don't choose alcoholism that destroys their lives, they don't choose to constantly smoke despite the fact they can't breath.  Mental health addiction is just as sad as cancer and if I can do something /  anything to prevent even one person from that I would.  Just as I would do anything to help someone avoid a cancer diagnosis.  Before people discount this and say, people should be free to do whatever they want, lets consider the argument of a publicly funded health care system.  You pay for the health care of others, I would rather pay for the prevention of these types of problems instead of creating a catalyst.  A catalyst that will increase health care costs as well as costs of other social programs.

"The evidence shows that the closer you live to a casino, the more likely there is to be gambling and problem gambling" - Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health (Proximity feeds addiction: Richardson).

To close I offer you this document Position Statement by City of Toronto Medical Officer of Health.

OLG wants a Casino in my backyard - I think NOT

So if you are a resident of the Township of Woolwich you would have received this card in the mail this past week (December 2 - 8, 2012).  I totally missed it and had to go digging in my recycling box to find it.  Let's just hope that the township didn't send this out on purpose on the same day as the flyers.  That would just make me angry.

Apparently, "The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has approached the Township to find out if interest exists concerning the possible establishment of a gaming facility in the municipality."

As a resident of the Township of Woolwich this concerns me greatly.  A casino is an extremely bad idea, it is not about the money it is about how you obtain that money.  We have to think long term about the values that we want in our township.

"Why is Council open to considering a possible gaming facility? It has been estimated that gaming facility can contribute approximately $4 million dollars per year to host municipalities"

Ok, lets just check out this statement "ESTIMATED"  and "APPROXIMATELY" are not very strong words now are they? Not only that, but if the casino can generate revenues in such excess to provide the host municipality $4 million dollars how much money has it stolen from the residents of said municipality.  Where do the supporters of casino funds to municipalities think the money comes from? Remember "The House" always wins and the Township and the residence are not "The House". People give your heads a shake.  Before we all get excited about the money don't forget this story about OLG potentially changing the rules on revenue sharing.  They are "The House" and they make and break the rules.  The Township Concil doesn't want to be put into this position in several years:

“It was not good news for us. It was not a good day,” said Michael Wood, chief administrative officer of the Township of Centre Wellington, which includes Elora. “We just don’t know what the announcement is really going to mean.”

Casinos are not sustainable municipal development. If you want to get some real information on gambling visit the University of Waterloo's Gambling Research Team or Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.

We are suppose to check off "Yes" or "No" to the following question:

"Do you support the establishment of a gaming facility in Woolwhich?"

They forgot the option of "Heck, No you crazy politicians" because that is the box that I'd be checking.  If you want your opinion heard on this please go to www.woolwich.ca/olgsurvey.   The deadline is Friday, December 21, 2012.

Here is some discussion of a possible casino in The Township of Woolwich.

Here are the search results of other articles in the Record on the possible casino in Woolwich.

I would like to applaud the Cambridge council for dumping this idea as they voted to reject it.  Gambling is not a source of revenue, it is a source of problems now and into the future.  Please be informed and inform the Council in Woolwich that this is a bad idea. Woolwich said "No" to the slot machines in the past and now they have an arena and new homes on that land.  New homes and other services provide stable income for the municipality.  Casinos only provide an income as long as they are making more then they are providing to you.

Ok, this rant is over but I can almost guarantee that I will have more to say on this issue.

Say "YES" to a positive sustainable future and say "NO" to a casino in your backyard.