Ottawa councillors warn about gambling

As Hard Rock and Ottawa’s government work on the handoff of the Rideau Carleton Raceway, some councillors are warning about gambling.

Canada.- Hard Rock Casinos is close to receive the Rideau Carleton Raceway as the government of Ottawa finishes the handoff process. However, councillors Keith Egli and Diane Deans are trying to turn the atention towards the public health impact that gambling can have.

Despite the handoff process is well underway and all committee meetings are considered to be informational, Egli and Deans used last Tuesday’s reunion to brand gambling as a public health concernl, metronews.ca reported: “For most people, [gambling] is fine. It’s a form of entertainment, it’s a night out, but there are people in the community who can’t deal with it. It’s an addiction, it’s invasive in their lives, and those are the people that I’m worried about,” Egli said.

However, councillors aren’t urging to ban gambling or stop the handoff. Deans compeled the city to use it as a way to righ some old wrongs previously commited, when the committee voted to expand gaming at the RCR without a report from Ottawa Public Health. “I think it was a poor decision making process. I believe in evidence-based decision making, and that council should have all the information,” Egli commented.

Hard Rock Casinos has already publicly committed to open dialogue with OPH in order to encusre gaming can be expanded in the city without being a harm to public health. OPH official Donna Casey said that “OPH staff welcome a meeting with staff from Hard Rock Casino Ottawa to discuss reducing harms from gambling in our community.”