A huge casino complex planned for Vancouver that would include a gaming floor the size of two NFL football fields has drawn the ire of locals worried about the fallout from increased gambling.
The proposal would see the Edgewater Casino move from its present location to beside BC Place Stadium and expand to include a hotel-entertainment complex with 1,500 slot machines and up to 150 gaming tables.
A public hearing will be held on Feb.17 to discuss the plan, which has drawn criticism from high profile Vancouverites such as former city councillor Peter Ladner and architect Bing Thom.
Las Vegas-based Paragon Development Inc, which bought Edgewater in 2006, claims the $450-million casino will create up to 1,900 jobs and attract tourists, which will benefit Vancouver businesses.
About 200 people, many of them casino employees, attended a public forum on Feb. 9 in support of the Edgewater expansion.
But opponents are concerned that a casino of this size will create more social problems, addictions, and crime in the city.
Sandra Garossino of Vancouver Not Vegas, a coalition of anti-casino groups and concerned citizens, says the public needs to have a say in a decision that has the potential to affect the entire city.
“There has been no public consultation process here. Everything is going on behind closed doors and the public doesn’t know any of the information it needs. This is being slid by the public in the hopes no one will notice the scale of it,” she says.
“We don’t have an audit on expected impact on addiction, or on organized crime. There is a complete lack of information.”
As a former prosecutor specializing in gangs, Garossino says casinos attract organized crime.
“I know how gangs work. Money laundering is their octane fuel and they have to have it,” she says.
Early last month, CBC News reported a multimillion-dollar spike in suspicious transactions at two B.C. casinos over three months in 2010. The RCMP told CBC the 90 large transactions worth $8 million may have been a scheme to launder “dirty money” from the drug trade.
In response, Solicitor General Rich Coleman said the government will take steps to strengthen regulations preventing organized crime groups from laundering illicit money at B.C. casinos.
Garossino also notes that charities in B.C. are suffering due to the loss of gaming money cut by the provincial government, and building a mega-casino in tough economic times is not a good idea.
Over the last two years, Coleman has slashed tens of millions in gaming funds from the charitable sector.
If approved, the new casino complex would bring in an estimated $17 million in revenue to the city annually, up from a current $7 million in annually, according to Straight.com.
Gambling addiction experts estimate that 21,000 people suffer from problem gambling in Vancouver, many of whom keep their problem hidden.
The Canada Safety Council reports that addiction to gambling is linked to a range of serious personal and social harms such as depression and suicide, bankruptcy, family breakup, domestic abuse, assault, fraud, theft, and even homelessness.
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