The city of Ottawa took a step forward today in the development of a $320 million casino at the Rideau Carleton Raceway but nobody from the public showed up to speak.
Today the city's finance committee approved the construction of 21 new gaming tables and approved the Rideau Carleton Raceway as the only site acceptable for the development of a casino.
Despite being advertised as a public meeting, no public delegations showed up to voice their opinions before a vote was heard. According to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, five or six submissions in support of the new casino were received.
Councillor Diane Deans said public input on the process should have played a bigger role over the last few years.
"For me the reason the public weren't here in droves is because the hand writing is already on the wall," she said after the vote. "It was set back in August of 2013 and this was just part of the process."
The debate over whether to build a new casino and where it should be built has been around for decades, but the issue really heated up again in 2011 under pressure from the Ontario Government and again in 2013 when Mayor Watson proposed a downtown casino. The public has been invited to speak and submit comments throughout the process.
Right now the plan is for Hard Rock Casino Ottawa to take over day-to-day operations of the Rideau Carleton Racetrack later this month before slowly moving forward with a $320 million renovation of the facility. The expansion is expected to bring jobs to rural Ottawa and attract more people to the area.
"We are really starving for employment in rural Ottawa south ... and this will not only hire people from Osgoode ward, but from everywhere in the city," said the area's councillor George Darouze.
Hard Rock Casino Ottawa has yet to file a formal application relating to the racetrack and when that happens Mayor Watson said the public will have further input on what is built and how.