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Ontario Considering Toronto Casino


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The Ontario government is courting the idea of adding a new casino to downtown Toronto. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan told press the government is seeking to generate higher dividends from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) and believes the construction of a new gaming facility would help achieve that goal.

“We have to maximize profits, and we haven’t necessarily been doing that,” said Mr. Duncan, noting, “Obviously, we wouldn’t move on something like that without the city itself wanting it.”

Toronto Councillor Doug Ford has also confirmed Mayor Rob Ford's administration would support the construction of a new casino, but only if the initiative had public approval.

The decision to move forward with a new casino also rests in part on an ongoing strategic review currently being conducted by the OLG. Mr. Duncan requested the review last year in a bid to revise the corporations current strategy, which he believes to be outdated having been drafted in the 1990s, well before U.S. Casino competition at Ontario's border and shifting exchange rates altered the gaming landscape.

“Growth in those organizations was predicated on access to the U.S. markets and a Canadian dollar at 60 cents,” Mr. Duncan said. “We don’t have that any more. That world has changed.”

In response to concern that a Toronto casino would take business away from those casinos already situated in Niagara Falls and Windsor, he added he was confident the OLG would arrive at a new strategy that benefits all players, and that his goal is to ensure border casino's are well protected, adding, “Those facilities in Niagara Falls and Windsor are still very important.”