Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee meeting marks a crucial point in the debate over a downtown casino-resort and conference centre where the public has a chance to weigh in — but all who registered to speak may not get the chance.

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A motion will be presented by Ford that would avoid the kind of deputation marathon seen at the 2012 budget meetings by limiting speaking time to three minutes and ending public deputations Monday at 8 p.m. sharp. The committee will reconvene Tuesday to question staff on the report before deciding whether to put the issue on hold or endorse it to city council.

The meeting concerns city manager Joe Pennachetti’s report, which lists 43 conditions council could impose on the potential deal.

Chief among the conditions is a call for at least $100 million in hosting fees. The report also specifies that the facility, envisioned as a convention centre combined with a casino resort, would generate about 10,000 net new jobs and 7,000 temporary construction jobs. It does not directly address the contention of critics that this would be offset by job losses at neighbouring businesses.

Mayor Ford and Councillor Doug Ford, who have been championing casinos, discussed it Sunday on their weekly Newstalk 1010 radio show. Brantford Mayor Chris Friel, a guest on the show, was generally supportive of the idea of a casino but he cautioned the brothers on the city’s hosting fee hopes.

“I think that your expectations for the hosting fees are way beyond what’s reasonable. I don’t think the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.) or the province can make that commitment,” said Friel.

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In response the Ford brothers called for hard negotiating tactics with OLG and the province, and emphasized a minimum of $100 million.

“What we should do is put an offer on the table because the province is just going to delay it and delay it and delay it,” the mayor said on the show.

There is concern that not enough information on the fee is available for Monday’s meeting.

“There’s been some discussion about deferral pending OLG divulging what their formula is and what the money part of it is,” Councillor Peter Milczyn, a member of the executive committee, said Thursday.

The OLG has only said it will provide the hosting fee formula by the end of April.

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, budget chief and member of the committee, does not see a problem with the missing puzzle piece, emphasizing the importance of the project over its financial contribution.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be crystallized until final approvals are given,” he said. “I have to be convinced that the overall development is something that would add value to the city going forward.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne declared in March that any deal between Toronto and OLG would have to use the same formula as other municipalities.

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Monday’s meeting, which gets underway at 9:30 a.m., is expected to attract the spectrum of casino commentators, including horse industry representatives, David McKeown, the city’s chief medical officer of health, residents and union spokespeople.

By Friday afternoon, almost 200 people had signed up to give deputations.

“Depending on the number of deputations on the list, there’s only a number of factors that people can bring to light,” said Di Giorgio. “It’s only a matter of time before the arguments become repetitive.”

With files from David Rider

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