For the first time since Ontario entered the commercial casino business in Windsor in 1994, the province has released financial statements that show its four Las Vegas-style casinos are losing money. Financial statements obtained by The Star Thursday show that what is now Caesars Windsor, Niagara Casino, Niagara Fallsview Casino and Casino Rama in Orillia lost CAD 55.9 million in 2007-08.
Brantford, Ontario – Talks have broken off in efforts to end a 48-day strike by Ontario casino workers in Brantford, Sudbury and at Toronto’s Woodbine Raceway. Negotiations have been held in Barrie for the past 10 days between the Canadian Auto Workers union and the Ontario Lottery Corporation. But a CAW source tells a Brantford radio station (CKPC) the talks broke off Friday morning.
Ontario’s push to allow Las Vegas-style sports gambling in casinos in a bid to boost sagging revenues is an irresponsible move that could deepen a troubling trend of gambling addiction in the province, critics said Thursday. Ontario casinos do have some sports betting but it’s limited to the government-run Pro-Line lottery in which gamblers select the outcomes of three or more contests on a „parlay“ ticket.
Ottawa – Lawyers for the Ontario government are looking into Casino Rama payments made to a First Nation that doesn’t officially exist, as at least one chief calls for an official investigation. The Chiefs of Ontario voted earlier this month to de-list and cut off Poplar Point First Nation, a so-called „near band“ that operated out of a storefront in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Two casinos operated by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation have shut down following a strike overnight by the Canadian Auto Workers union. OLG Casino Brantford in Brantford, Ontario, and Sudbury Downs Slots in Sudbury were closed after a collective agreement between the company and the union expired at midnight, the casino operator said in a statement distributed by Canada Newswire.
Toronto – Ontario’s aboriginal communities could get CAD 2.5-billion over the next 20 years under a new proposed deal to share revenue from provincial lotteries and casinos. Provincial negotiators say the deal — if it’s ratified by Ontario chiefs on June 18 — would be the first agreement of its kind in Canada since it gives 133 aboriginal communities a cut of the province’s gaming revenue.
