Kitchener and Waterloo to hold casino talks
Posted Mar 26, 2013 05:16:01 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Kitchener and Waterloo have both voted in favour of public consultations to possibly bring a casino to one of the cities.
The vote was 10-1 in Kitchener and 6-2 in Waterloo.
In Kitchener, councillors listened to delegations, asked questions and debated the issue for three hours.
Ward 3 Councillor John Gazzola declined to vote so he was marked down as a no.
The President of the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce
was one of the delegations who spoke at the Kitchener meeting.
Ian McLean urged councillors to give citizens of the city a voice, before coming to a decision about a gaming facility.
“I’d like to state very clearly at this stage… that the Greater K-W Chamber
does not support or oppose a casino at this particular time. However, through written correspondence to the mayor of Kitchener and a series of media articles we have expressed strong support for a public discussion on the issue that will allow all perspectives to be brought forward for consideration.”
Public consultations are set to start in Kitchener on Tuesday, April 23rd, with a final decision expected on May 13th.
No date has been set in Waterloo.
Meantime, Cambridge voted not to re-open the issue at their meeting on Monday night.
Earlier this month, Woolwich Township Council voted 4-1 in favour of exploring the possibility of bringing a casino there.
