Gilas Community Gamblings biggest addict By Gila Martow

Ontario is showing signs of addiction to increased spending and ever growing government. Education costs rise while health care budgets are skyrocketing. Adding to the burden is the growth of government itself and the wasted billions on useless projects such as eHealth, OR !E air ambulance and cancelled power plans. "nstead of guidance, the public servants have been forced to function on autopilot in a prorogued state of government. #eanwhile, Ontario continues to operate in a deficit resulting in yet more debt for our beleaguered province. $a%payers fund provincial programs through income ta%, sales ta%, gas ta%, cigarette ta%, alcohol, lottery and gaming. &orporate ta%es drive business out of the province while raising personal ta%es is cruel to already struggling families. 'nable or unwilling to cut program funding or streamline the bureaucracy, the government looks for alternative sources of income. $he Ontario (ottery and !aming &orporation hopes to add to its revenue generating arsenal with a new casino in the !reater $oronto Area. )*now your limit + play within it, the O(! warns us with ta%payer funded announcements, all the while encouraging more of us to play and pay + a kind of voluntary ta%. !ambling addiction is a serious problem with far-reaching social implications and costs. !amblers hide their addiction and will live in denial even while facing bankruptcy. $hey carry on gaming seemingly oblivious to whether or not they can afford to play. $he biggest gambling addict seems to be our own government with its refusal to live within its means while searching out more gaming revenue in the province. ".m not a great fan of casinos + probably because " don.t know how to play the games + but " respect the right of anyone who can afford to play. And, let.s face it, the income from lottery and casinos keeps our provincial coffers full. /hat " 0uestion is the involvement of various levels of government in encouraging gambling. $oronto is studying the concept of a casino with Ontario 1lace as a potential site. 2aughan &ity &ouncil, with an e%pressed interest to host the ne%t casino, is waiting to hear the results of $oronto.s study. 2aughan will

consider investing in a study of the viability of a casino should $oronto say )no thank you., /ard 3 2aughan &ouncillor 4andra 5eung Racco doesn.t think a casino is )the right thing for the &ity of 2aughan, especially in the area they are considering which is going to be our downtown., $he proposed location is 6ane and Hwy 7 + home to a new subway at the 2aughan #etropolitan &enter. Racco feels that there is )so much other potential, for this area. 4he believes that a casino will discourage world head offices because employers will not want locate their office beside a casino since )you don.t want to see your employees going to a casino at any time of day., #a%ine 1overing, a 2aughan real estate agent, agrees with &ouncillor Racco. )"f 2aughan wants to attract big name businesses and corporate offices from multi-national corporations, having a casino in their backyard is not the best way to attract that business, she cautions. )5ou are attracting money laundering and activities that are not friendly to families,, worries Racco. )"n my opinion, people only look at casinos as money grabbers., 4he suggests that the social problems created by casinos need to be e%posed. $he big 0uestion is whether a new casino will generate more cash for the provincial coffers. "f the province invests in a new facility which merely draws customers away from the other casinos we could e%perience a net loss. $he potential revenue generated by investing in a new facility is not the only consideration. Residents raise valid concerns regarding crime, property values, traffic congestion, parking and social costs. #onaco and the 8ahamas, both casino holiday destinations, do not allow their residents to play in their casinos + evidence that their governments do not consider casinos as a positive influence. ewmarket -Aurora #11 9rank *lees e%pressed concerns about the proposal for a casino in 5ork Region. #y personal opinion is that there are more negatives than positives,, he stated. )" don.t like the obvious social implications and " don.t like government becoming dependent on gaming revenues - a bad combination in my opinion. " believe casinos should be at destination locations. "n other words, if people choose to entertain

themselves by engaging in gaming, it should be a planned event, not a convenient drop-in., /e all know that gambling will e%ist with or without a casino. 5et a friendly game between a group of friends or in a shadier establishment speciali:ing in gaming re0uires a degree of planning. "n contrast, a casino is a ;3<7 invitation to many who are too weak to resist and often gamble more than they can afford. After all, they have a provincial government showing them how. Gila Martow is President of the Beverley Glen Ratepayers Association in Thornhill, Vaughan. www.beverleyglenra.co !atch for "Trending in York Region hosted by Gila on Rogers #or$ Region TV.