Late last night, the Vancouver British Columbia city council voted unanimously to reject a provincial proposal to build the largest casino in Western Canada in the city’s downtown area.
Paragon Gaming, the company that was set to build the casino, had signed a tentative agreement with B.C. Pavilion Corp. to build the casino with two hotels, 1,500 slot machines and 150 tables. The slot machines were then downgraded to 1,200.
Leading up to the construction, the casino had met continuous resistance from many anti-gambling groups and other opponents. Finally, last night the city voted to reject the project. Among the chief reasons for rejecting the uber casino were that officials felt that allowing the 74,000-square-metre entertainment complex to be built didn’t jive with Vancouver’s global brand as the world’s most livable city and the “green capital of the world.”
It’s election campaigning time, so the NDP political party is now attempting to spin the result against the BC government as a call for a complete review of the province’s gambling policy.
To me the answer is clear. The hippies don’t want a super Las Vegas style casino with flashing lights in their green city. All those slot machines, lights and energy being used is enough to make them an extra bong hit on 4/20 to relax.
The council stepped up and shut it down, but they have no problems with having a government run online gambling site that had no idea what it was doing when it first began. That wasn’t voted down. Why? Well aside from the fact that people love playing poker online, it’s cleaner to BC residents, it’s digital technology, and it’s greener too.
