Canadian Mayors Voice Concern Over New Vancouver Casino
Mayors of six local municipalities in suburban Vancouver have expressed their concern over the building of the new mega-casino in downtown Vancouver.
The mayors believe that the income that they see from local casinos could be affected if the new Edgewater Casino expansion at BC Place goes ahead as planned.
"While a new casino will attract new gamblers, it will siphon off some of the business from Richmond's River Rock and other suburban casinos," said the mayor of Richmond, Malcolm Brodie.
He said that there has to be a negative impact and that he and his fellow mayors were concerned as such.
It doesn't help that the BC Lottery Corporation or Paragon Gaming have not produced documentation over the newly planned casino to allay these fears.
The mayor of Coquitlam, Richard Stewart said that he has tried unsuccessfully to find out from the BCLC how it thinks the new casino will affect smaller casinos.
"We're struggling to find the unbiased analysis of whether in fact it will have an impact," he said.
Traditionally, municipalities that incorporate casinos see some of the revenues making their way back into local coffers, and mayors are allowed to spend the money on public projects as they see fit.
Last year, six local municipalities (Richmond, Coquitlam, Surrey, Burnaby, New Westminster and Langley City) were handed $46.4 million from their casinos.
More than $580 million has been earned by these municipalities since 2000.
