Nothing is written in stone and there's still time to prevent Sudbury from becoming the home to a new casino.
That was the message being stressed during a town hall meeting at St. Andrew's Place on Jan. 3, where roughly 50 Sudburians turned up to hear from community members leading the charge against a casino being built in the Nickel City.
Steering committee members Tom Fortin, Ruby Lougheed Yawney, and Cathy Orlando all spoke about the negative effects that a casino would have on the community, while fielding questions from the audience.
Orlando is originally from Niagara Falls and has done some number crunching and research on the socioeconomic impacts of casinos in communities.
"Incidents of domestic abuse are 25 per cent higher in postal codes within 30 km of a casino," said Orlando. "I like to borrow David Robinson's comment that casinos belong in Nowheresville or in tourist towns. Sudbury is neither, we have a lot here already, but we're also not a tourist town."
Founder of No Casino Sudbury, Ruby Lougheed Yawney has been taking a stand against a casino in Sudbury since 2012 when then-mayor Marianne Matichuk spoke in a radio interview about the benefits of a casino in the city.
"There's a lot of misinformation out there about the money that this casino will bring into the community and what a benefit this will be," said Lougheed Yawney.
"Why is the government preying on its most vulnerable citizens? Who benefits from this? Why are we inviting this into our community? Why do we want to tempt and hurt people? I know people who have committed suicide over gambling, why do we want to kill people?"
Lougheed Yawney pointed to the fact that Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) will not set up roots in the form of a casino in a community where council has said they don't want one.
"All of us need to twist some arms and talk to our councillors," she said.
Eric Legendre was one of the roughly 50 people who attended the town hall and is a recovering compulsive gambler who doesn't want to see a casino in his city.
"There's definitely a lot of anxiety with this, the draw is always there but when it's not close by it's easier to avoid. When it's right on my doorstep and more accessible the urges are going to be a lot stronger," said Legendre.
"A lot of people don't see gambling addiction the way they see alcohol or drug addiction, they think it's a choice and maybe it is the first time you walk into a casino but it can become a devastating addiction and I lost everything and had to start over from scratch. If I can prevent just one person from going through what I've been through then it's a start."
Local business owner Tom Fortin gave a brief presentation on behalf of CasinoFreeSudbury, a group of business owners in Sudbury who share Fortin's opposition to bringing a casino to town.
Fortin spoke of Sudbury as a remote Northern Ontario community that doesn't have the same surrounding population to draw on as other casino cities such as Niagara Falls, Orillia, and Windsor.
Niagara Falls has an external population of three million people who live within a 90 minute drive, Windsor has roughly 1.9 million people within an hour and a half. Sudbury is able to draw on an external population of around 65,000 people.
"The users of this casino will be 90 per cent Sudbury residents," said Fortin. "The result is $100 million to $150 million not being spent on our existing entertainment, cultural and dining establishments."
Fortin's presentation also highlighted that Orillia residents on average have $19,090 less disposable income than families in Sudbury and that $360 million is lost to gambling each year in Orillia.
"With all the talk in government about promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, why is the Ministry of Finance placing casinos and their associated amenities where they have the effect of cannibalizing local establishments and impairing local entrepreneurs?" said Fortin.
"Council can still stop this."
