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] »
Typical latte-snorting, bixi-bike riding, lieberry-using, coffee-shop-loitering, Annex-loving, sidewalk-strolling downtowners. Every time us conservatives come up with a surefire fix to fix Toronto, like:
1. A multilevel expressway to replace the Gardiner, paid for by cough
2. A ferris wheel on the waterfront to steal tourists from London. We would have also considered our own Big Ben.
3. Subways to everywhere at no cost to anyone, which is what our push polls show The People want. The subways will pay for themselves by increasing development, just like the Sheppard Stubway did!
4. Privatizing social housing, closing the homeless shelters and using the residents as untrained MMA fighters (ticket sales would pay for Sheppard Subway, no problem)
5. Open a new stadium on the waterfront between the Rogers Centre and the ACC for a brand new NFL team. Won’t cost a dime, and it will bring in football fans from all over the world!
6. Give a big raise to the police, we need them on our side!
7. Get rid of the arts, put the artists to work at the new NFL stadium selling t-shirts.
8. Closing old-age homes and installing elevated sidewalks so we don’t have to step over dying old people in the streets
9. Spending millions of tax dollars on consultants to duplicate the work of city staffers (whoops we managed to actually do that one)
Going to the casino is like going to church…
Think about that statement for a minute. Most of us who go to church give an offering which is based on an amount you can afford. You pretty much do the same when you go to a casino. In both cases you are hopping, even praying, that you will benefit from the contribution one way or another. Seldom do you go home with more money in your pocket than you went in with.
More often then not, you park in the same parking spot and sit in the same seat, unless someone beats you to them. You like seeing the regulars and sometimes you meet new people. In both the church and the casino you prey for good things to happen to you and your friends and occasionally your prayers are heard. In fact, going there usually becomes part of your routine and you even dress up for the occasion. Both the church and casino hold special events to raise money and you attend as many as you can.
So the next time someone suggests that you may be addicted to gambling, you might ask them if they go to church regularly and does that mean they are addicted to church?
Polls show that over 70% people in Toronto OPPOSE the idea of a casino focused development on the lakefront. So I think that our elected representatives are obligated to stand up to the province on this one. We want better than a casino development. We want something beautiful and wholesome. Something that uplifts Toronto, and brings in true prosperity. Casinos are not good for that, stick them somewhere else.
I am very worried that your show in Raleigh is 18+. That would rellay suck because I’m a huge fan and have been wanting to see you guys for quite some time, and I would not be able to see you guys because i am 17 :-(