TORONTO – Mayor Rob Ford stated categorically Thursday that he will not support a casino if the city doesn’t receive at least $100 million in hosting fees from the province.
And the finance minister’s office confirmed soon after Ford’s remarks that the city would receive just over half that.
The mayor has instructed the city manager to move the debate from this coming Tuesday to the June meeting of city council.
Ford said he would not force city councillors to take part in a divisive debate next week without answers from the province.
Since the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation suggested the idea of a Toronto casino as part of their complex “modernization” program, several groups including various city councillors, activists and Ford have floated various estimates ranging from $50 to $200 million that the city could gain from hosting fees.
Ford lashed out at Premier Kathleen Wynne, accusing her of “playing games” and simply not being ready to “make a decision.”
“I don’t know why the government has changed its mind, that’s a question for the premier. I don’t know why they will not support a fair share for Toronto, and not just for Toronto but for all host cities in this province,” Ford said. “I don’t know why the premier does not support creating 10,000 good paying, union jobs in Toronto, which we so badly need.”
Ford also said his staff has been making “almost-daily” calls to the premier’s office inquiring about hosting fees.
Poll: Do you want Toronto to host a casino?
Ford has long said he wants a casino, but not without getting at least $100 million for the city.
“If the province won’t agree to that $100 million then, folks, the deal is dead,” Ford said Thursday. “We are not going to carry on with a casino debate.”
Finance Minister Charles Sousa said Thursday that he has a new formula for casino hosting fees but wouldn’t say whether he would release it prior to the planned city council debate.
The formula will be released “in due course,” but Toronto has to make a decision about a casino on its own merits, not how much money it will bring in, Sousa said.
“In the end, Toronto may say no, regardless of what formula we put in,” he said. “What’s important is that we do something that’s equal to everyone, and every area of the province.”
His office later confirmed that the new formula would give Toronto $53.7 million a year, far below Ford’s expectations.
VIDEO: Mayor Ford cancels casino debate
Ford took some time during his Thursday press conference to spell out how he apparently planned to spend the hypothetical money.
At least $100 million, he said, would go towards extending the Bloor-Danforth subway to Scarborough.
Any extra money would fund the Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s large repair backlog.
He also said he had proposed any casino developer be forced to contribute $4.5 million annually to a city benefits fund which would be divvied up between the city’s 44 wards.
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The OLG was sent back to the drawing board in March amid reports that it was offering a special deal to Toronto that would see the city collect $100 million in hosting fees.
OLG chairman Paul Godfrey was fired Thursday and the board resigned.
Godfrey said he wasn’t given a reason for his dismissal but didn’t think it had anything to do with Ford’s announcement.
The Crown corporation denied there was any special deal, but said it would rewrite the formula to meet Wynne’s orders that all cities and towns be treated exactly the same.
But Wynne didn’t seem to know that the OLG had handed the revised formula back to her government, saying the corporation was still finalizing it.
“There hasn’t been a final decision yet and city council will need to make it’s decision about the timing of it’s debate,” she said Thursday morning in Woodbridge, Ont.
Wynne just doesn’t get it, Ford said.
“I just don’t think that they understand … you’d have to ask them, how important creating 10,000 good-paying jobs is to this city? What that extra revenue would do?”
Getting at least $100 million is a “fair share,” not a special deal, he added.
“I’m not going to go ahead without a funding formula,” Ford said.
“If I don’t have the numbers in front of me, how can I go out and sell something, or try to go to council and convince councillors to say, ‘Here, we got a deal,”‘ he said.
“There is no deal. There’s nothing on the table.”
His brother, Coun. Doug Ford, went a step further. The debate is over, even if Wynne announces tomorrow that the city will get their asking price, which would have gone into building subways and subsidized housing, he said.
“It’s dead,” he said. “It’s over.”
Ontario New Democrat Michael Prue accused Sousa of hiding the formula and keeping the city in the dark.
“The government has to be honest,” he said.
“They have to be forthright and they have to say why they’ve chosen a path forward, and they have to let people know that path before decisions are made. And that’s what they’re not doing.”
A spokeswoman for Sousa said the government “appreciates the mayor’s comments but we’ll put out the formula when we’re ready and are confident that it is fair to all municipalities.”
With files from the Canadian Press
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