The problem with the structure of York Region is that certain municipalities make decisions, such as the Cities of Markham and Vaughan on affordable housing, and other municipalities are left with doing all the heavy lifting. That is why you get imbalances like with Georgina and Newmarket having the majority of York public housing units in the Region.
The City of Vaughan made yet another such decision with deciding in favour of a casino which potentially will pay Vaughan upwards of $50 million in taxes and hosting fees. That's great money for Vaughan but what about York Region?
Casinos bring many social evils to a community - poverty, addiction, drugs, organized crime, and prostitution to name a few. These social problems soak up a significant amount of public money in resources in terms of housing, policing, social work and the legal system to name a few. In York Region, these costs are generally borne by the York Regional Government with contributions made by taxpayers in all municipalities.
In a nutshell, Vaughan gambles on a casino. If they win, Vaughan gets to keep all the dough. If they lose, all the York Region municipality residents get a share of the costs.
If Vaughan wants the casino, then it will be up to the other municipalities to ensure that Vaughan pays a sizable levy to York Regional coffers to keep the costs of battling the social problems associated with a casino balanced and fair.
Therefore, before the Province and the OLG entertains a bid from Vaughan, it will be Queens Park's responsibility to ensure that Vaughan invests in social housing within its own borders, that cost structures related to policing, social work and the legal system are shouldered by the municipality that is receiving the monetary reward for being the host. To do otherwise is simply gambling without ante'ing up.
One final comment on the casino.
I have heard a number of rumours about certain individuals who intend to be involved in Newmarket elections that are currently contracted (or sub contracted) to do lobbying related work with either MGM, Onex, Oxford, Sands or Caesars (one of which would likely operate a Vaughan casino). For instance, Toronto Life magazine has reported that former Rob Ford campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis is working with the MGM bid. Kouvalis is known to have significant ties in the Newmarket area. I will challenge these individuals to be transparent about their involvement particularly if they intend to put their name on a ballot in a 2014 municipal or a subsequent provincial or federal election. The voters have a right to know if you are working to bring poverty, drugs, prostitution, organized crime and other social ills into our community.
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