Great Canadian Gaming, the company planning to revamp Woodbine Racetrack, promises to provide hundreds of jobs to local residents and pay the city as much as $31 million a year if it’s allowed to proceed with its casino expansion.

But that’s not enough, says Councillor Mike Layton, who worries about the risks a casino would pose to the Rexdale community, like fuelling gambling addictions and draining the local economy.

“These are jobs, but jobs at what expense?” he said.

Woodbine, which currently hosts slot machines, will become a full-fledged casino and entertainment and hotel complex by 2022, the Star has reported.

Great Canadian Gaming Corp. and Brookfield Business Partners, who won the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corp. bidding process in 2017 to expand Woodbine, must meet or committee to 21 conditions to proceed, said a city staff report to be prepared for Toronto’s executive committee Tuesday.

Council put the conditions in place in 2015 when it approved Woodbine as a casino site, said a staff report from the time. It did so to ensure Rexdale residents get a share of the socio-economic benefits, and that the casino operator and OLG (the provincial agency responsible for lottery and gaming entertainment) work to minimize gambling addictions associated with casinos.

Among other conditions, Woodbine will hire a minimum of 40 per cent of its employees through local or social agencies, said the most recent report. After two years, 50 per cent of employees will be full-time. It plans to increase its workforce by 500 new jobs.

At least 10 per cent of construction contractors and supplies will be from the local area, the report said. The city, which currently receives $16 million a year from Woodbine’s revenues, will get an additional $15 million in annual hosting funds beginning in 2022.

While city staff advise Woodbine has met the conditions, others including Layton disagreed. He argued casinos “siphon off” earnings instead of investing them into surrounding communities, which is why council needs to push for more accountability.

“If we’re going to put a casino in we need to get a good deal for the city,” he said. “Council should increase the price of admissions and we better be damn well sure (the community) is happy with the deal.”

Layton said he wants to see the city receive more than the projected $31 million a year, citing a projection from the Rob Ford era that estimated a downtown casino would guarantee $40 million a year.

At executive committee, the Toronto Community Benefits Network, on behalf of Rexdale residents, will request Woodbine bump up the amount of local hires to 60 per cent, pay a living wage and have a daycare on-site.

“We want to ensure residents have decent jobs with good pay and benefits, unionized where possible, so they can afford to live in their communities and contribute to their local economy,” executive director Rosemarie Powell said.

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