VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - City councillors have already turned down a mega-casino but Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson says
Vision Vancouver will put a moratorium on gambling expansion if they win power again in November.
"It's very consistent with the decision we made last spring. What we're saying now is that for the next three years we won't consider another proposal. We won't put the public through that via referendum and the costs associated."
Robertson says he's not concerned with losing gambling revenue, saying the city's economy relies very little on gaming money.
But a casino lobby group is pointing out the benefits of gaming in the form of money and jobs. Lots of them.
The
Canadian Gaming Association says gaming puts 37-thousand people to work in BC and it also pumps more than 2-billion dollars into the economy each year.
But CEO Bill Rutsey still doesn't want to weigh in on Robertson's campaign promise.
"I'm sitting here in Toronto and far be it for me to try to influence a civic election in Vancouver. I'll simply say that when you look at the history of gaming in British Columbia, on balance it's been very, very good for the province."
Vision Vancouver has accepted campaign donations from the
Great Canadian Gaming Corporation in the past.