Niagara Falls Mayor says casino brought jobs, development to his city

TORONTO, Ont. – As Toronto ponders a casino, the Mayor of Niagara Falls says a casino brought jobs and much-needed development to his city.

“There’s the biggest employers, the casinos, here in the Niagara Region,” says Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati.

When the casino was first introduced the city was going through some difficult times, according to Diodati.

“By and large, they’re good paying jobs, there (are) some very good paying jobs for upper management,” Diodati said. “But overall it has definitely been a positive in our community in terms of job creation.”

Wayne Thomson, a Niagara Falls councillor who was mayor when a casino was given the green light, through a referendum, says they also faced a strong anti-casino lobbying group.

“(In the end we had) 64 per cent of the people say they wanted a casino in Niagara Falls,” Thomson said.

At the time of the vote, Thomson says the tourism industry and floundering, industry was leaving the city and the recession was taking a toll.

The casino then brought in both money and jobs.

“The economic benefit to this area, created thousands of more jobs,” Thomson said.

Some of those in opposition of a casino have said the negative social impact would be great. Diodati however says steps can be taken to lessen this impact.

“Invest money into policing, to make sure there weren’t going to be any kind of activities that are sometimes associated with gambling,” Diodati said.

Both the former and current mayor said the positives from the casino have outweighed any negatives.

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