Sault Ste. Marie residents debate casino future

In Sault Ste. Marie, talk of a new casino is stirring up debate the city had back in the 1990s before the current, temporary casino was built.

Steve Butland was the mayor of Sault Ste. Marie when it first became a casino town and still cant get around the fact that the casino in his city is a tent.

"Its a pretty fancy, elaborate tent. Its not a bad looking casino," he said. "[The] unemployment rate in Sault Ste. Marie was 19 per cent at the time, so we were grasping for straws."

Predictions about the Sault being overrun with gangsters and prostitutes never came true, Butland said.

The province is expected to select the company that will run the northern Ontario casinos by the end of the year and it will decide what it does in the Sault and whether it will keep operating the 14-year-old temporary casino.

Butland said he hopes the new company the province is bringing in to run the casino will build a new, permanent casino, with a hotel and tourist attraction as well.

He does expect 300 people who work at the casino will make less money.

"When a private operator comes in, my guess is, the wages will go down, not up," he said.

We learn to accept it

Not everyone in the city believes a new gambling facility will come to Sault Ste. Marie.

A jewelry store owner in the downtown has heard of talk of a bigger, fancier casino for years.

"It never happened and I actually dont believe its going to happen, not for a long time," Richard Rosset said.

One of Rossets employees who was addicted to gambling stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his store.

He said hes not against casinos, but does think more can be done to prevent addiction.

"The bar owner, unfortunately, has to be more cautious in how hes serving and I think the casino has to be more cautious in how they serve their product," he explained.

Meanwhile, a real estate agent who headed up the "No Campaign" in the Sault casino referendum of 1996 said his feelings havent changed, but added he thinks the city has gotten used to the casino.

"Its very much like any other kind of social issue thats undesirable," Paul Matthewson said. "We learn to accept it."

Stay tuned to CBC Radio One in Sudbury and northeastern Ontario all this week for more on this story. Our series "The Big Gamble" airs at 7:10 a.m daily until Thursday on Morning North. Parts of the series will also be on CBCs afternoon show Points North, as well as onthe regional news.