But Gateway Casinos spokesperson says they're 'absolutely committed' to building in Sudbury

Tom Fortin doesn't mince words when it comes to talking about building a casino in Sudbury.

“It will be stopped,” he said in a recent interview.

The man who owns Ontrak Control Systems, a successful electronics business in Greater Sudbury, is now known to many as the biggest opponent of Gateway Casinos plan to build a casino alongside the arena on the Kingsway.

He's behind the CasinoFreesudbury.com website and recently released a report — paid for, he said, by a group of concerned business owners — by consulting firm urbanMetrics that concluded a casino would be a drain on the local economy.

The case against the casino

While casinos in more populated areas may be able to attract gamblers from other cities – exporting the harm — Fortin says that's not the case in a remote community such as Sudbury, where it's mainly locals that will be pulling the handles on slot machines.

"If you put a casino in Sudbury, who are we going to draw from?” he said. “Where are these millions of people going to come from that are going to use this casino? Well, the answer is it's going to be local people spending money in the casino. And if we're not drawing any more tourists — we may bring a few more into town — if it's majority locals, it's very, very detrimental to our local cultural economy."

He points to the fact there will be multiple restaurants at the casino, "subsidized" by Gateway because it will draw customer traffic to the casino. That's not the case with local restaurant owners, who already face razor-thin profit margins.

"The difference between Sudbury and North Bay, we all have McDonalds, we have Wendy's, but only we have (restaurant owners like) a Rob Gregorini and a Mark Browning and Casey Boyuk and all these guys that make this a great place to live," he said. "The cultural entrepreneurs, they got it tough. The (Sudbury) Theatre Centre is having trouble, the (Sudbury) Symphony is having trouble, and the restaurant people, they're not driving around in Lamborghinis. This is a tough business to be in."

While the casino restaurants may turn a profit, they won't need to make the kind of revenue local competitors need to stay in business. That's significant, he says, because it's those unique community offerings that draw people to town. Casinos don't.

"I'm in a business where we need engineers, we need an educated workforce, we need to inspire our young people to want to stay here,” Fortin said. “To do that, we really have to protect arts and culture. The Up Here festival is one of my favourites — music, art, beer and everything.

“If we remove money through the casino — and it's not just the restaurants — the volume money that will go into the casino will affect sponsorships for festivals. The whole community loses."

Gateway Casinos: Sudbury can win big from gaming

Gateway Casinos' Rob Mitchell disagrees. They're confident the local casino will be a significant draw from outside Sudbury. And the fact Orillia-based Casino Rama still runs bus tours out of Sudbury shows there's demand for the type of operation Gateway plans to build in Sudbury.

"We think that we will absolutely, in combination with the arena, and future development along the Kingsway, attract people from a larger catchment area than just Sudbury," Mitchell said in a recent interview. "Already at Sudbury Downs, we have people coming in from other communities like Elliot Lake and other communities. We expect to become an entertainment destination in the Sudbury area.

"Casino Rama has been active in Sudbury for years now, and continues to be active in Sudbury, offering bus packages down to their facility. So there is certainly a market for this. I would say to critics, this is discretionary spending. No one is forced to go a casino."

When asked how they expect to draw when there's a casino planned just down the road in North Bay, he said the two projects are very different. While North Bay is getting a casino, Sudbury's is part of a much larger project.

“It's going to be a much larger casino with different gaming options,” Mitchell said. “We do believe we can be destination entertainment in Sudbury, because the offering is distinctive enough from what we're building in North Bay and what (exists) currently."

With people already coming here to shop at big box stores, he said the Kingsway Entertainment District will be another reason for people to come to town. With plans for the convention/performing arts centre, art gallery and library downtown, he said there's a potential to create a significant draw from people in cities across the North, and to a lesser extent, further afield.

“And we believe we're creating jobs — not just at the casino itself, but in the service industry and new construction and industries that provide construction materials, food and beverage, glassware, table wear, linens, cleaning services, ground maintenance, snow removal,” Mitchell said.

He said in his experience, the movement to stop the casino is unique to Sudbury. While the company has only been operating in Ontario since last May, they have extensive experience in the industry out West. And Mitchell there's no movement in Thunder Bay or Sault Ste. Marie to get rid of their casino, where they're viewed as an important part of the community.

"I'll put it to you this way: there's not a host community yet that has regretted bringing in a casino into their community,” he said. "There's never been a plebiscite to get rid of a casino. There's never been a situation where a casino already existed in a community and the municipality has turned to the province and said, we want this thing closed and removed.

“Our view is we will become one more attraction that may compel people to stay another day in Sudbury.”

When the original city council resolution was passed in favour of a casino in 2012, it included language that called for whichever casino operator was chosen to provide financial support for the arena construction. Mitchell said that's not something Gateway is considering.

"That has not been part of our bid in terms of acquiring the rights to become the service provider in Sudbury," he said. "I'm not aware of the city having brought that up with us. We're entirely private-sector money going into building the ($60 million) casino."

Fortin said he's not surprised to hear other communities haven't tried to stop a casino before, because it's only now that the negative impact casinos have is becoming more clear.

"The fellow from Gateway is right — it is very unique that there are several business leaders in this community, not just myself, who are little bit conscious about how our economy works — and there's a number of people trying to grow it in a number of different ways,” he said. “So we have a bit of an idea of what's going on."

Casinos aren't like stores

Decades ago, when Costco and Walmart were looking to open in Sudbury, critics said it would hurt local businesses and export profits outside the community.

Today, they're viewed as assets, even lessening the effects of the downturn in mining in recent years by attracting out-of-town shoppers.

Fortin says the two situations aren't comparable. Pointing out he didn't actively oppose Costco, he said when you go shopping, you don't come home empty-handed like you do at a casino.

"At least when you go to Costco or you go to Walmart, when you leave there, you're bringing home toilet paper, you're bringing home batteries — whatever it is, you getting something," he said.

"And we can't stop a Costco from coming to Sudbury. We can stop a casino, because a casino is the Ontario government. If the government is putting a casino here, hiring an operator, everyone says that's a private business. That's bullshit. It's the Ontario government putting a casino here to extract revenue for general revenue ... The negatives are far going to outweigh the benefits from this."

While moving the arena out of downtown Sudbury has been the focus of the debate, Fortin said the arena is only going to the Kingsway so it can be paired with the casino. He said landowner Dario Zulich tried to rezone the property to allow a casino in 2013, but it didn't happen.

"He gave up on that,” he said. “He went on a different route and now he's convinced this community to build our arena there, and now we're getting a casino beside it. But it's always been about the casino."

Mitchell sees it differently. He said the anti-casino movement is being buttressed by those opposed to moving the arena.

"I think their opposition is related to that, and it has very little to do with the casino," he said. “I think this is really about the arena leaving the downtown core and the fear of what that impact will be on local businesses downtown."

Regardless of motivation, both sides say they are determined. Fortin said their best shot at stopping the casino at this point is through an appeal of the arena, parking lot and casino rezoning.

"We will be appealing the whole thing,” Fortin said. “You can't look at it as two separate things, as they're trying to do. So we're going to be appealing the casino, the (arena), everything.

“Our way to stop this is through the zoning. And it will be stopped."

Mitchell said they have a 20-year agreement with the province to operate a casino in Sudbury, and they're determined to do just that.

“We are absolutely committed to building a new casino in Sudbury and we will follow all the processes required of us by the municipality, working cooperatively with the municipality to get that outcome,” he said. "We have a binding, contractual agreement with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming to operate in Sudbury."