I’ve watched the committee hearings on TV and I haven’t often seen a lot of community groups or ordinary people making presentations, and that’s why I felt compelled to come here today as a representative of my group. Many jobs will be saved because of this bill, but I have one concern, and that is that the timing of the VLTs is crucial when they are brought into play. We feel that when the VLTs are brought into the racetracks throughout Ontario, if they’re brought in prior to the opening of the 50 permanent charity casino locations throughout Ontario, this will definitely hurt our industries. Many customers ask us on a daily basis, “When are the VLTs coming?” Our customers will definitely be VLT players, and all we’re asking for is to be put on a level playing field. Within the halls in the Niagara region, we represent 200 charities, which include 120 charities from our two halls in Fort Erie alone. Our two halls in Fort Erie alone made $9.5 million in charitable proceeds, paid $1 million to the city in licensing fees and paid $300,000 in provincial licensing fees to Toronto. I think, with all due respect, Mr Kormos, that the government’s current terms of reference are on the money because they do appear as if they’re open for future study. Like in any other business, things will get sorted out as we go on and if it’s in the cards that others should have them, by all means. On the other hand, it’s entirely conceivable that if they’re not successful, say, in the racetrack element, then it might be racetracks that don’t want them at that point in time. Designate clearly racetracks to be included as charity gaming halls.

• Kristin Baker from Pathstone NCC gave a presentation of ‘Music Therapy’ last Wednesday.
• Mr Ruicci, I’ve got to tell you, you know what my position is on the slots.
• The free spins can be used on a selection of NetEnt slot games, and Magic Red will notify you exactly which ones once your bonus spins have been awarded.
• #WeAreRotary and we support empowering people with literacy!
• The agency was replaced by the AGCO with the implementation of the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation and Public Protection Act, Ontario in 1996.

Our virtual bingo games are totally free for up to 30 players.For more than 30 players our prices start at $10 for 100 bingo cards, which gives access to our virtual bingo system for 31 days. Not only does the bingo industry deserve this, but it is already set up to meet the eligibility requirements of the newly formed Alcohol and Gaming Commission. The inner structure of the bingo industry is that we are already licensed entities by the Gaming Control Commission, and we pay $12,000 a hall a year for this licence. All of our key employees are licensed by the Gaming Control Commission, and not only our halls but our key employees as well have had background investigations conducted by the Gaming Control Commission. Even more so, the Delta Bingo Group of Companies is undertaking a voluntary compliance audit for the Gaming Control Commission in which our registered employees comply with and enforce all gaming rules and regulations. This makes for an excellent, controlled environment for no under-age gambling, as we are regulated not to allow people who are under age to enter our establishment or play bingo. These numbers do not include the huge number of people who volunteer and/or work for charitable organizations. I’m representing the B’nai Israel Brotherhood, a religious charity operating a charitable bingo in the Delta Bingo hall in St Catharines. It is my understanding that I may be the only bingo charity appearing before you today.

Site Plan Approval

Richard Rybiak, our town’s newest councillor, spoke about the value of volunteers, and gave us a little insight into the Community in Bloom Committee. The Community in Bloom is a non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community participation, and the challenge of national competition. Our local group was formed in 2000, as a volunteer committee under the auspices of the Town of Pelham. Rev. Moore teaches an eight – 10 week course, geared to kids from eight – 12 years of age, via games and role playing, during a 90 min. extended lunch hour at schools with problems. Teacher’s recommend who could benefit from the course.

As and when alcoholic beverages are made available, legally or otherwise, the setting rapidly becomes conducive to playing machine games hour after hour. I understand the OPP estimates there are 15,000 to 20,000 illegal machines in our province. According to some experts, they’re siphoning off $400 million that should be going to the government to fund programs. Illegal machines are costing me and operators like me substantial sales. They’re threatening my operation and the jobs of my employees. Ontario has been and continues to be flooded with illegal grey machines. Police are aware of the magnitude of illegal play but say they lack the means to make any serious inroads in controlling their use. I pride myself on what I’ve been able to accomplish as a business person. However, it is patently unfair to expect me to be able to compete against illegal machines. Video gaming is the new, favoured form of recreational gaming. Independent research reveals that people play on average one or two times a week and spend an average of $10 and that it’s a planned and budgeted event that is viewed as part of relaxing and socializing.

Charitable Rebate

On top of these difficulties, each municipality interprets the terms and conditions differently and adds on additional bylaws to those terms and conditions. When attempting to deal with compliance issues in all the cities, the municipalities are so very different you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. This would allow us to fulfil all the issues required by the terms and conditions. At this time, we were informed that our contact person would be Ms Jasmina Milanovich. We had been working closely with Lynne Bertolini and her legal counsel, Don Bourgeois. The debate about whether gambling should be banned is a moral issue that will continue to be debated long after the casinos and VLTs are established as social artefacts. We believe that parties with vested interests need to direct some energy away from the moral debate and towards a commitment to finding solutions. The stakeholders in the economic development corporation in the community were aggressively pursuing a commercial casino. Fortune had it that it went to our neighbours up the road, and we wish them the best of luck, but the scenario is that we’re into maintenance of an industry that employs over half the people in this community.

People have been lining up in front of this committee. The hotel-motel association has had presenters and they’ve been scripted, giving their presentations in town and city after city and throughout the course of the hearings in Toronto. There are big bucks here, billions of dollars, literally billions. So what you’re saying is, notwithstanding the discussed number of VLTs per population — I think that was a way of defining how many there were going to be as opposed to where they’re going to be located, quite frankly. What you’re saying then is the government should place more emphasis on the fact that they should be located in local tourist attractions to be fair to everyone and allow every establishment an opportunity. Firstly, we feel one of the major impacts of VLT licensing on a resort property is the potential for increased tourist traffic. I observed with great interest the televised committee hearings last week which mentioned the negative addictive effects VLTs can have, their potential effects on the sale of Nevada tickets and its subsequent effect on charities. A very high percentage of the students have been removed from school, are active criminals, are without work experience, and without any support system ,or home address. Teaching these youngsters a skill gives them a chance in life that they otherwise would never have had.