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The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario
Resolution
October 25, 2016
No. 31
Moved by Councillor Pietrangelo
Seconded by Councillor Morocco
WHEREAS Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara have made Niagara Falls the
Premier gaming destination in Canada; and
WHEREAS it is imperative for the community that Niagara's two resort casinos maintain
or increase employment and investment levels; and
WHEREAS Niagara Falls City Council has, unanimously, gone on record three times (
cf. Resolutions 2013-35 and 2016-16) calling upon the Ministry of Finance, through the
Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation , to immediately include Niagara's two resort
casinos in its modernization plans, establish separately managed and rebranded
operations, commit to the redevelopment of the two resort casinos and allow additional
gaming sites in Niagara Falls; and
WHEREAS Niagara Falls City Council has identified one of their strategic priorities for
the 2015-2018 term as strengthening the competitiveness and prosperity of the two
casinos and lobbying for expansion of the gaming industry in Niagara Falls; and
WHEREAS unlike other Ontario municipalities, the City of Niagara Falls and the
Municipal Councils of the day have shown unanimous support for gaming in our
community; and
WHEREAS Niagara's two resort casinos are now included in the Ontario Lottery &
Gaming Corporation's OLG modernization framework; and
WHEREAS being part of the OLG's modernization framework will allow Niagara's two
resort casinos to realize their true, full potential to become compelling and integral
elements in attracting tourists to the city of Niagara Falls; and
WHEREAS in order to ensure that Niagara's Casinos retain their role as a vital local
and regional employer, and build upon their role as a tourism attractor and generator of
Provincial revenue, Niagara Falls City Council had respectfully requested by resolution
on May 10, 2016 that the municipality play a significant role in the structuring of the
Request for Pre Qualifications (RFPQ) and Request for Proposals (RFP), to ensure job
retention and creation, economic development and investment are priorities and are
weighted heavily in the selection process; and
WHEREAS the City of Niagara Falls was not engaged by OLG to discuss the details of
the RFPQ and was only notified the day before its release; and
WHEREAS the RFPQ stresses a model that is strictly based upon revenue generation
and is not designed to retain and create new gaming or spin off jobs, encourage
investment and serve as a catalyst for economic development, which is contrary to the
City's expressed goals and objectives.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that to ensure the City's and Region's objectives of
job retention and creation, investment and economic development are respected and
incorporated into the process and weighted just as strongly as revenue or greater in the
RFP and the municipality is involved in the structure of the RFPQ and RFP, Council
strongly requests this RFPQ be post-poned until the City's goals and objectives are
incorporated and we are treated as key partners in the process.
Carried Unanimously
AND The Seal of the Corporation be hereto affixed.
(;)
14)fr' ...0•11 /474DE , I RFID JAMES M. DIODATI
CITY CLERK / MAYOR