Impact of a downtown casino in Ontario

The CBC's Steve Fischertravelled toWindsor to speak with people there aboutthe impactof a downtown casino.

The City of Ottawa has officially made its interest known in opening a new casino and the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation has been public with a desire to put a gaming facility in the heart of any city that gets one.

Few Ontario cities have casinos and the first to take the leap was Windsor, 18 years ago. CBC News spoke to residents, stakeholders, gamblersand the OLG to gauge what impact a downtown casino has had on the city's downtowncore.

Thecasino was part of an economic boom in the late 1990s but tightened border security and the improved Canadian dollar hurt the gaming centre.

Jobs have been cut, homes have been boarded up,business in surrounding areas hasdisappeared and thecasino has been hurtby the opening of other gaming centres in Detroit, just across the U.S.-Canada border.

Even though the casino rebranded itself in 2008 as the Caesars WindsorHotel & Casino, the recession that same yearhurt the city's economy andhiked Windsor's unemployment rateto 12.5 per cent.

The city's unemployment rate remains tied for second in the country at 9 per cent, tied with London, Ont., and just behind Oshawa, Ont., at 9.1 per cent.

Whilecrime rates are downin the southern Ontario city, population has also decreased. But the question is, how would Windsor look post-recession if the casino did not exist?

One financial advisor did say there has been anincrease in bankruptciesfiled by gamblingaddicts since the casino opened.

There are varying views on whether the casino hashad a positive or negative effect, as CBC News found out while speaking to a variety of stakeholders in Windsor.

But Windsor residents were generally supportiveof Ottawa's plan for a new casino.