Toronto Casino Consultation Links and Background

To paraphrase a commercial, “I don’t often add an article on this site, but when I do, I think it’s an important topic”.

In January of 2013, an important topic for the Canadian city of Toronto is whether to allow the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Coporation (OLG) to build a casino in downtown Toronto.

Good or Bad Idea: a Casino in Toronto?

“Toronto Skyline from Billy Bishop Airport” image by beachdigital (George Socka)

My latest DeHaan Services post, “OLG Proposal and Links to Toronto Casino Consultation“, provides links to the background documents, my comments on some of that information, and the extremely useful link to the online feedback page.

As a bonus, it even lists the dates for public consultation meetings on the subject of the proposed Toronto casino.

As always, my articles are publicized in my Xanga blog (“Background for the Toronto Casino Proposal“) as well as with a writing tip in my Blog of Writing (“How to Respond in the Toronto Casino Consultation“).

The Math Making a Business Case out of the Casino Proposal

(Added Jan. 20, 2012): My Decoded Science article, “A Sample Case Study of Math for a Casino Business Proposal“, uses simple mathematics and spreadsheets to analyze part of the OLG proposal for a casino in Toronto.

The main focus is on the “hosting fee” which OLG pays to every municipality where they have a gaming facility, such as slot machines or table games.

Toronto published a report about the bid, which included a range of possible hosting fees. My article grew from reviewing the official report and the background data. I pre-publicized my Decoded Science article in “Preview of Math for the Toronto Casino Proposal“. It was a pre-publication preview because it included my original artwork: the spreadsheets showing the hosting fee and other calculations discussed in the text of the main article.

This is an important civic issue about the role of gambling in an urban setting; whether it constitutes a regressive tax on gambling addicts or merely an entertainment activity for discretionary spending; and how to examine a business promise for feasibility and consistency.