[URBAN NOTE] "There can only be one: Ajax, Pickering fight for right to host casino"

[rfmcdonald]

In The Globe and Mail, Jill Mahoney reports on how the suburban Toronto cities of Ajax and Pickering are competing for the right to have a casino.

Does anyone reading this have any stake in Ajax versus Pickering? I like the latter's flea market, for whatever it's worth.

The cornfield stretches as far as the eye can see. But amid the rows of stalks, there are billboards depicting an incongruous scene: a dramatic nighttime rendering of a massive entertainment complex featuring a casino, a water park, a convention centre and multiple hotels.

The signs promise that the development is “coming soon” to this patch of farmland in Pickering. But despite winning city council support, the future of the main attraction – the casino – is still very much up in the air.

Just eight kilometres away in Ajax, the owner of a 10-year-old slot-machine and horse-racing facility has also secured approval from local leaders to rezone the site for a casino expansion.

The catch? The two casino projects cannot co-exist. Under Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. rules, there can be only one casino in the geographic zone that includes Pickering and Ajax.

The high stakes have led to a battle between the mayors of the neighbouring communities, who both want the jobs, spinoff businesses and millions in hosting fees that a large casino would bring. Their embrace of gaming expansion is in sharp contrast to the reception given to a proposal to build a large downtown casino in Toronto, which was overwhelmingly rejected by city council three years ago.