Toronto – CAW Local 1090 members voted today in favour of a new collective agreement at the Great Blue Heron Charity Casino ending a strike that began September 7 at the Port Perry, Ontario gaming facility. The membership voted 58 per cent in favour of the agreement at a ratification meeting today. They return to work starting Wednesday, September 19th at 4pm. The new contract includes a minimum wage increase of USD 2.20 per hour over the life of the agreement.

It is „no dice“ for a casino in Toronto, an idea firmly squashed yesterday by both Mayor David Miller and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. At city hall, several councillors urged the mayor-controlled executive committee to look into the feasibility of a Toronto-owned gambling operation, in part to raise revenue. After a brief, heated debate, the committee killed the request put forward by Councillor Cesar Palacio (Ward 17, Davenport), who is not a member of the executive.

The Great Blue Heron Charity Casino voted one of the best casinos in Toronto in the Toronto Sun 13th Annual Readers Choice Awards.

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.

Toronto — One senior executive was fired and another removed of his title Tuesday as the fallout from a scandal involving allegations of fraud and suspicious insider wins at Ontario’s lottery corporation widened. Michelle DiEmanuele, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s interim chief executive, announced the changes Tuesday afternoon in a memo to staff.