Voters want to know where the candidates stand on the issues and so does Sudbury.com.
To that end, we’ve starting a new election feature: Where Do They Stand? We picked nine issues that mattered to us, and reached out to the mayoral candidates and invited them to give us their answers.
Each candidate has 250 words or less to stake out their position on each of these issues: the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED); expanded casino gambling; large project spending; downtown Sudbury and the urban-rural divide; taxation (everyone’s favourite); roads (always top of mind in Sudbury); the health of our lakes; the state of firefighting in the city, and; transparency, openness and leadership.
For the next nine week days we’ll be rolling a new story every weekday, an election issue per day leading up to Election Day.
Today, the topic is one related to an issue that is dominating this election: the Kingsway Entertainment District project. Specifically, we asked about an element of that project: new, expanded gambling opportunities in Greater Sudbury at a casino that forms part of the KED.
Everyone has chosen sides. Read on and find out exactly what the candidates think. Now, every candidate was invited to participate, but, for whatever reason, not all of them chose to do so. Here are the answers from those who did.
Rodney Newton, Troy Crowder, and David Popescu did not supply answers.
You can click on each candidate’s name to visit their page on the Sudbury.com election website.
This was the question we asked:
Expanding casino gaming has some members of the community worried about an increase in problem gambling, while others worry a casino will vacuum up disposable income and harm other business sectors in the city. Others believe expanded casino gaming will attract tourists, diversify the economy and bring much-needed jobs and new spending. Explain your position.
Brian Bigger (incumbent)
This project is not new, and it is a matter mostly in the hands of OLG and Gateway. The fact the casino is not downtown will ideally help in some of the prevention of problem gambling.
Regarding problem gambling, there are many programs available that can help identify gambling issues and provide pathways to support. I will also make sure our city works with experts in public health, mental health and addictions to ensure we are prepared to aid and help those who require support.
I do hope the new casino will help in making Sudbury a destination for more tourists. Sudbury already has a lot to offer and a modern facility may bolster that concept as a place to visit and enjoy an extended stay. With more visitors, we get more dollars flowing, more revenue for everyone and more jobs. I hope this will be a win/win for the city.
Cody Cacciotti
As your mayor I would work to ensure that the casino is properly marketed and leveraged as a destination to attract tourists and drive our local economy. An entertainment complex and casino can be a wonderful boost to the local economy, creating jobs for our citizens, bringing in tourists, increasing the time and amount of money that visitors spend in Sudbury and showcasing our city to travelers. But only if it is handled correctly. I would use every opportunity available as your mayor to ensure this new project would benefit our community.
Bill Crumplin
Personally, I see the casino as both a vacuum of disposable income and a type of a Trojan horse that contains a bundle of potential social ills.
As I have stated, a casino is a 1970s economic solution. We need to diversify our economy to meet the needs of the 21st century. Casinos make no economic sense and we are very late to get into the big casino game. According to a recent study reported in the Toronto Star, “The casino business across North America has been in stagnation for more than a decade, having long ago saturated the market.”
Economic growth must come from our ever-expanding health, education, industry, business and technology sectors. We are not going to attract sustainable growth by selling our city saying we have a large casino. Using Rama as a comparison is very problematic. To this day it relies on daily busloads of people from the Toronto area being shuttled up and down the 400.
I have heard that the casino is projected to return up to $5 million per year to Sudbury. This represents approximately 5 per cent of the take of the casino. Therefore, something in the order of $95 million will be split between Gateway Casinos and the province. In other words, people who use the casino will be subsidizing things like roads and infrastructure elsewhere in the province and most likely in the GTA and, of course, lining the pockets of the shareholders of Gateway.
Jeff Huska
No, to a Casino in Sudbury. There is no other way to state it.
I don’t see the economic driver we are being told this casino will be for Greater Sudbury. With a casino in the Sault, one being built in North Bay, possibly Parry Sound vying to add a casino to their landscape, what draw will there be to Sudbury’s?
The truth is there won’t be any draw. There won’t be a large positive economic impact to our city if everyone around us has a casino to call their own. Therefore, it’s safe to say the majority of people utilizing our casino will be from Sudbury. OLG has predicted anywhere from $60-$100 million being removed from Sudbury’s economy each year.
The province will make sure little, if any, of that money makes its way back to Greater Sudbury. By not having a casino, money normally spent gambling can be redirected to support local businesses, create jobs that inevitably increase our local tax base.
I also have an issue with a gambling facility so close to a community sports facility. I’d like to remove the temptation of parents/grandparents dropping their kids off for a hockey game while they spend an hour gambling in the casino. Personally, I want to see them staying active in their kids’ lives, not missing it as they sit at the card table.
Ron Leclair
My position on the casino is that I do believe it will be an economic benefit for all of Sudbury by attracting tourism and creating jobs in and around the entertainment district once fully developed.
It is my vision to see Sudbury expand and I do believe we are heading in the right direction. I do not believe a casino will vacuum up disposable income and harm other business sectors in the city. Everyone has choices in life, whether they choose to spend their hard-earned money at a casino or at a theatre, it’s their choice and they are ones that live with the consequences of that choice.
Dan Melanson
The proposal for a new casino was accepted and approved by the previous council in 2012, and the current council is simply following through on that decision.
It is my opinion that the casino will not be the great economic generator that some of the proponents are predicting, any more than it will be the moral and economic downfall of Greater Sudbury that those who are opposed are claiming it will be.
The reality will probably be, somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.
Patricia Mills
In my view, both of the scenarios listed in the question above are true.
Undoubtedly, the casino will provide jobs for some Sudburians. It will provide more opportunities for entertainment for visitors. Whether it will bring many new tourists to town is difficult to say as bricks and mortar casinos have seen major declines recently. Hopes that a casino will bring major new tourism are optimistic at best.
The overall impact on the community is rightly in question. Many are concerned, as am I, that expanded gambling will come with a significant social cost, and new strain on services that will impact the city's budget.
I personally do not believe we need expanded gaming in Greater Sudbury. Allowing a casino was a decision made two councils ago. Much has changed since then, including the original scope of OLG’s plan. This project is not a wealth generator. The new spending and jobs will mainly be at the construction stage. While there will be jobs at the casino, we have recently seen the operators of existing casinos in Ontario reduce the workforce levels.
Bill Sanders
I think a Casino is a stupid waste of time and money. Proponents call it entertainment. It is not entertainment. There is no value for your money. The jobs will be minimum wage jobs. Remember you are not working for the OLG. The OLG is contracting out to private companies like Gateway Casinos therefore the wages have been reduced drastically because Gateway has to give a cut to OLG and high wages will affect their bottom line.
You want tourists? Build a indoor water park with a hotel. Who would not love that.
