The mayors of Kitchener and Waterloo both say they plan to discuss the possibility of hosting a casino with their city councils in the coming weeks.
This comes hot on the heels of a vote by councillors in Woolwich Township to continue their pursuit of a new gaming facility.
Woolwich councillors voted 4-1 in favour of that move Tuesday night.
“I am quite stunned, I must say,” said Janice Martin, a Woolwich resident against the idea of a casino.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be so one-sided.”
Woolwich Mayor Todd Cowan says the vote was only an expression of interest, not a sign that a casino in his community is imminent.
“It opens the discussions further for the next step,” he told CTV.
That next step involves the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. first choosing a private operator to run gambling activities in the local gaming zone.
OLG officials say they expect to get multiple submissions for the area.
Once a single operator is chosen, they will have final say in which community gets a new casino, and whether the slot machines at Elora’s Grand River Raceway are maintained.
Regardless of which community ends up with a casino, Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr says he thinks all of Waterloo Region should share in its revenue.
He plans to put forward a motion at a Wednesday night regional council meeting asking the OLG to get approval from Waterloo Region for any new casino, and specifying that the region should get a share of the proceeds from any casino placed within its borders.
“The region should have a voice in whether or not there is a casino,” he said.
Cowan says the discussion should remain between the OLG and the lower-tier municipality, without the region taking an active voice.
On the financial side of things, Woolwich councillors agreed Tuesday to discuss revenue sharing with the region, noting a casino could lead to increased costs for policing, public health and social services.
If a casino is built in Woolwich, two potential sites have already been shortlisted – one parcel of land on Shantz Station Road in Breslau, and another on King Street just north of Waterloo.
Municipalities have until March 31 to decide whether they want to be considered as a host community for a potential new casino.
