Anti-gambling activist Bill Clark. BayToday.ca file photo.
North Bay anti-gambling activists Sandy O'Grady and Bill Clark say they and their supporters are taking a "time-out," and will not go to the Ontario Municipal Board regarding the proposed Nipissing Raceway racetrack.
O'Grady and Clark explained their decision in an e-mail received by BayToday.ca late Thursday evening.
Nipissing Entertainment, the racetrack's developer, has already received zoning approval for a racetrack and slots facility.
The company went ahead with its application despite the continuance of a provincial moratorium on the slots-in-racetracks program.
Opponents of the project had until today to file an appeal to the OMB,O'Grady and Clark stated in their e-mail.
But that's a direction they weren't prepared to go in, they said.
"It is extremely costly, and a review of recent OMB judgements were awarded to "business" and no weight given to social costs."
O'Grady and Clark said they made their decision following "many meetings and consultations" with a retired city planner in Bracebridge, meetings with downtown business groups, church and interfaith representatives, "and finally, nearly an hour with a city lawyer."
They had considered an OMB challenge on two fronts, O'Grady and Clark said: that, they believe, the city planning department "ignored" social changes, and that no study was done to determine the economic consequences of slots at the racetrack.
North Bay Mayor Vic Fedeli and each councilor received an 11-page fax from the Canada Safety Council outlining its concern,and Tembec, a large international corporation, bought a half page ad in the local newspaper two days prior to the vote "to express its concern for the community."
"It should be noted that Tembec is a major benefactor, every arts project is supported by Tembec, and it is the biggest supporter for the yet-to-be-built new hospital," O'Grady and Clark stated.
The North Bay Nugget also received the same 11 pages, they added, "and published not a single word."
City council "chose to ignore both pleas," O'Grady and Clark stated, and voted to approve the application with slots.
With the OMB no longer an option, the anti-gambling faction will take a new tack, O'Grady and Clark stated.
"Since the Minister of Health's recommendation on the moratorium extension is not due till May, we will probably shift attention to public health, and the fact that both the Canada Safety Council and also business is expressing concern means the MoH has to stop gambling expansion, and indeed shrink the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation."
The Responsible Gambling Council of Ontario has also started a new ad campaign to bring attention to "problem gamblers," O'Grady and Clark stated.
