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Chad Skelton
Vancouver Sun
Friday, January 23, 2004
Need for cash kills city ban on slots
Jobs for Downtown Eastside tied to approval of machines
VANCOUVER - Vancouver's long-standing ban on slots ended
Thursday when city council voted 5-4 to allow 600 of the machines
at the Plaza of Nations.
But council's approval came with a couple of last-minute
conditions -- including requiring the casino to hire people
from the Downtown Eastside and letting community groups use
the casino's 500-seat theatre for cultural events.
Mayor Larry Campbell, who voted in favour of the machines,
said the casino vote was a "very difficult decision for everybody"
but that the city needs the extra $10-$12 million in revenue
the slots will generate. "It's going to be good for the city
and the citizens of the city," Campbell said.
It is not clear how the condition that the casino hire Downtown
Eastside residents will work in practice.
The last-minute amendment, suggested by Councillor Jim Green,
who voted in favour of the slots, states only that the casino
should "prepare a casino operations job creation program targeted
to qualified, unemployed and under-employed downtown residents."
However, most of the casino's dealers and cashiers are unionized
employees who now work at the two existing casinos.
Former NDP MP and MLA Ian Waddell, now a spokesman for the
casino proponents, said the casino will try to hire people
from the Downtown Eastside for entry-level jobs such as parking
attendants, but not bonded positions that require handling
large quantities of cash.
"I don't think they're going to be dealer or cashier positions,"
Waddell said.
But in an interview Thursday, Green made it clear his ambitions
for the program are much greater.
While he said priority for any jobs should go to union members
from the two existing casinos, he said any positions that
come up after that -- anywhere in the casino -- should go
to those living in the downtown core, as long as they're qualified.
"First priority should go to people in that community," Green
said. "You're talking about a community that has 95-per-cent
unemployment. It's a way to use the development that's coming
in to help boost the economy."
Green said that should include positions for dealers and
cashiers, because most Downtown Eastside residents don't have
criminal records.
"There's no reason people from the Downtown Eastside can't
be dealers," Green said.
The details of how the hiring of local people will work will
be ironed out during the development permit process, Green
said.
Voting in favour of the machines, along with Campbell and
Green, were fellow Coalition of Progressive Electors councillors
Tim Stevenson, Raymond Louie and David Cadman.
Voting against were COPE councillors Fred Bass, Tim Louis
and Anne Roberts and Non-Partisan Association Councillor Peter
Ladner. COPE Councillor Ellen Woodsworth was out of the country
and NPA Councillor Sam Sullivan didn't vote because of a conflict
of interest.
Cadman, who often votes with Bass, Louis and Roberts, was
the swing vote.
In an interview Thursday, Cadman said that with the provincial
government cutting funding for social programs, the city needs
slots to help pay for social programs.
"Large cities cannot cope if they don't find additional sources
of revenue," Cadman said.
"We're faced, as a city, with the downloading of many, many
problems ... on to our jurisdiction with no capacity to respond."
However, Bass -- a physician with a specialty in addiction
-- said the city's decision means it will be relying for revenue
on gambling addicts, many of whom are poor.
"I think it's a bad bet," Bass said. "We're selling people
down the river. This is a regressive tax on vulnerable people."
Waddell said the casino could open as early as this May.
It will replace two existing casinos, the Grand Casino on
Marine Drive and the Royal Diamond Casino, which was operating
at the Plaza of Nations but is closed because of a labour
dispute.
The casino will operate at the Plaza of Nations for about
three years while it seeks a permanent site, probably along
False Creek.
© Copyright 2004 Vancouver
Sun
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