Ontario Canada Casino News
From the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal:


A provincial government decision that no new casinos will be developed has shaken Dryden Mayor Anne Krassilowsky.

“It comes as a surprise when indications from the feasibility study that Dryden and Wabigoon Lake First Nation undertook seemed to indicate that (a casino) would be an economic diversification opportunity for the two communities, providing more than 300 jobs,” Krassilowsky said Thursday.

“(It’s) one step forward and two steps back,” she said.

City council received a positive report this week on a casino/hotel development proposal.

Economic Development Minister Joe Cordiano announced Thursday “there will be no additional casinos” in Ontario.

Cordiano also said the province won’t allow video lottery terminals in bars and restaurants, nor will it allow slot machines in bingo halls.

The decision comes following a study of the market done by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. which suggests the province focus on making its current gaming facilities more competitive instead of creating new ones.

“The market assessment clearly points out that in order to maximize what we have, we shouldn’t cannibalize, so this is why we arrived at the decision that we made: no new facilities,” Cordiano said....

[T]he OLGC study states the government has to more effectively manage existing casinos and make them more competitive, especially because of tough competition from south of the border....



I'm sure that the present casino owners love this decision. Of course, a regulatory agency would never get in bed with the firms that it is supposed to regulate, would it?

The "south of the border" statement deserves some analysis, especially when you look at the following tidbit from Cordiano's biography:


Minister Cordiano graduated with distinction from the University of Toledo, Ohio with a Masters degree in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto.


So the Minister himself came down here to get his MBA. This suggests that U.S. universities are providing "tough competition" for Canadian universities. Obviously, the only solution is to stop building Canadian universities and strengthening the ones that they already have.

Governments really have fun with free markets, don't they?

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