Almost one month to the day, Innisfil Mayor Barb Baguley was ensured by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. that slot machines located at Georgian Downs would not be removed. She was quoted at the time as saying, "…at the end of the day, we will be very pleased with our new relationship with OLG.” According to a recent report, the mayor is "frustrated" with how the government is currently keeping the municipality in the dark
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An article by The Innisfil Scope explains that OLG officials met with officials from the Town of Innisfil on Thursday, April 19. Town officials were apparently looking for answers in terms of what to expect going forward, and they got stonewalled, as the OLG reportedly kept its cards close to its vest.
What the OLG did reportedly do was state that there is no guarantee that gaming will always take place in Innisfil.
"They did not guarantee that Innisfil will always host (a gaming facility), but they did say this is a great site, and (mentioned) positive things about the current owner, Great Canadian Gaming," Baguley was quoted as saying. "They didn't talk about (Georgian as) profitable, but they did say it was well located and a great venue."
The mayor went on to say, "We clearly want to know where we stand, and they won't tell us at this time. It is frustrating, but it is how government works. We're in a position of waiting for information."
The report also quoted the mayor as having stood up for the local racing and agricultural sectors during the meeting, and that town council is planning to soon pass a resolution indicating the municipality's desire to continue to play host to a gaming facility.
"There's a lot of unknowns. But it was a good meeting, in that we talked about our concerns," Baguley said.
(With files from The Innisfil Scope)
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Mike, you are absolutely
Mike, you are absolutely right. The Liberals are decimating horse racing thinking that gambling in their mega-casinos and building more liquor stores are going to solve the Provincial debt crisis. This is another classic example of gross mismanagement. Look at their so called Green Energy policy and the Ornge scandal.... millions of dollars either missing or wasted. If we ran our businesses like the gov't runs theirs, we'd both be bankrupt. This gov't has totally lost touch with reality.
michael smith This should be
michael smith
This should be very worrisome to anyone concerned about the future of Georgian Downs.A new casino in Toronto will decimate Rama and this government has shown it will not hesitate to close a racetrack site if it thinks it will help a struggling casino.Their logic is stupid and destructive since casinos are not the answer to a province's financial woes .We need job creation, not pie in the sky.