Unfair deal?

Coun. Ken Boshcoff is calling Toronto’s special deal with Ontario’s Lottery and Gaming Corporation unfair.

The Globe and Mail reported that Toronto would not get the standard formula for hosting fees that other municipalities receive from an OLG casino, and instead would receive $50 to $100 million -- more than double what other cities receive.

Boshcoff said when Thunder Bay, Point Edward, Sault Ste Marie and Brantford negotiated deals to have casinos built in the early 2000s, they agreed to five per cent of the slot revenue.

The original agreement stated that if one city was to receive an increase then they all would.

“You can’t just favour one person in your family,” he said.

“We’re all in this together. The five per cent was agreed to by the original four mayors. When I see other cities in outrage, I can only say that they have completely valid concerns. Coming out of the blue like this is totally unfair.”

Mayor Keith Hobbs said the city receives about $2.4 million from the slot revenue each year and doesn’t get a hosting fee. He said he wanted to wait to see what happens in Toronto before reacting.

“My first impressions are that they are looking at privatization,” he said. “There’s going to be private companies coming in and running the casino. Perhaps we’ll be able to negotiate those higher rates. I kind of want to sit back and then we’ll go from there. If Toronto is getting double of what we’re getting I’m sure we’ll be fighting for double as well.”

OLG could not provide comment when contacted by tbnewswatch.com.