Woodsworth pans ‘tax on the poor’
Jeremy Shepherd
Van. Courier
A parking lot between B.C. Place and the Cambie Street Bridge may become the site of a sprawling resort and casino, but it won’t happen without at least some opposition.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell announced plans for the $450-million casino last week.
If the land adjacent to B.C. Place and north of Pacific Boulevard is rezoned by Vancouver city council, it could become the site of a casino and two hotels by 2013.
COPE Coun. Ellen Woodsworth said the community needed more park space and affordable housing, not a casino with “no business plan.”
She referred to the proposal as “a tax on the poor,” and a possible threat to Hastings Racecourse.
“Hastings [Racecourse] had to go through very vigorous, community-involved discussions,” she said, noting similar discussions have yet to take place regarding the proposed casino.
“Are they going to put any money into the community?” she asked.
The casino is slated to have 1,200 slot machines, nearly twice as many as Hastings Racecourse, which is owned by Great Canadian Casinos. “You could put in 10,000 slot machines, it’s about what you’re going to provide for your customers,” responded Howard Blank, vice-president of Great Canadian Casinos.
Blank said he didn’t expect a new casino to affect Hastings Racecourse because the two operations would cater to different clientele.
Mary McNeil, B.C. Liberal MLA for Vancouver-False Creek, is enthusiastic about the project.
“We need to strengthen the economy and this is the way we do it,” she said.
McNeil said construction of the casino would result in 5,000 jobs, both direct and indirect. An operational casino would result in more than 1,900 permanent jobs, according to McNeil, who added it would revitalize her riding.
She was not concerned about traffic or noise. “It’s downtown Vancouver,” she said. McNeil is “very optimistic” city council will allow the casino to be built.
Vision Coun. Raymond Louie said it was too early to have a definitive answer on the proposed casino, but expressed concern for Hastings Racecourse and the Main Street bingo hall Planet Bingo. Louie said Planet Bingo helps fund 100 different charitable organizations and would have to be protected.
Hastings Racecourse gives $600,000 a year to civic amenities, including the greening of Hastings Park, according to Louie. He said Edgewater casino contributes $200,000 a year to a social responsibility fund. Louie said city council would have to consider the increase in traffic and noise once the official application is submitted.
Gambling opponents rejected the proposal.
“[B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell] is addicted to gambling,” said Bill Chu, anti-gambling activist and founder of Chinese Christians in Action. “[The provincial government’s] been shifting the tax burden from corporations to the gamblers of the city.”
Chu said the $1.09 billion the province received from gaming in 2008/2009 demonstrates the economy is mismanaged and too reliant on gambling.
David Podmore, chair of Pavilion Corporation, the Crown corporation that owns the land to be developed, said the proposal is an expansion.
“It’s a relocation of an existing casino; it exists across the street today,” he said. The 30,000-square-foot Edgewater casino would close once the new casino opened, according to Podmore.
Podmore said the project would maximize nearly 700,000 square feet of commercial space–100,000 square-feet of which will be devoted to gaming–and the construction would happen concurrently with renovations to B.C. Place.
Podmore said improvements to B.C. Place would attract more entertainment to the venue, particularly in the summer.
Dr. Robert Gordon, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University, said any increase in crime would likely be invisible to most citizens.
“It doesn’t show up in traditional predatory street crimes… no people are bludgeoned outside for their winnings,” he said.
Crimes like money laundering are more of a grey area, according to Gordon.