Duly Quoted: David Crombie, John Sewell, and Art Eggleton

Three former mayors make a case against casinos.

By Hamutal Dotan

“Governments shouldn’t be expanding gambling opportunities as a means of balancing their budgets. A commercial casino operation is not in Toronto’s best interest.”

—Three former mayors of Toronto in a letter to current mayor Rob Ford, opposing a new casino in the city. (The letter was provided to the Star first but they didn’t reprint it in full; you can read it in its entirety at the Sun.) The mayors warn that while prospective casino developers may have glittering proposals their numbers may be inflated, and that the potential benefits associated with a casino are not enough to compensate for its costs. Moreover, they write, a casino would drain money from surrounding small businesses and is a poor fit for a growing city with residential development virtually everywhere.