Essay/Term paper: Casinos

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Persuasive Essays

Casinos


Are casinos good for Ontario? To every situation there are positive and
negative points. In the situation of casinos, the positive side has a very
strong case that outweighs the negative side. One of the main reasons that they
are good is that numerous jobs are created by and for the government. Another
positive aspect is that the government and local charities will get some of the
revenue created at these gambling locations. Along with these reasons, a lot of
the people that will come to visit the casinos, from Canada or the United States
and encourage the tourism industry. Casinos are a good solution for many
problems including tourism and government funding.
One of the most important reasons why casinos are a good thing is the
fact that a number of jobs are created. In the past three years casinos have
created nearly 43,0001 jobs directly and indirectly. With today's job market,
these jobs are greatly needed to help keep the unemployment rate down. There is
really no negative side to creating jobs for the people of Ontario.
From past years it can be noted that Ontario casinos are taking in great
amounts of money annually. Casino Rama in Orillia took in 366.1 million2 last
year and Casino Niagara had revenues of approximately 650.0 million3. Of those
amounts the government will take two to four percent4 for funding programs.
This funding goes towards such areas as agriculture, environment, fisheries, and
aquaculture. If the funding was not from these casinos where would it come from,
and would these mean the each of these areas would also get funding cuts like
other sectors? Since the money is coming from casinos, it is saving the average
tax-payer money also. In the event that the funding from casinos was stopped
then taxes would have to be raised to keep money in the listed areas or the
areas would receive subsidy cuts. Some people of course will say that the money
is just being moved from one area to another within the government, but where
would it be moving from?
Further money will also go to charities within the community, such as
the Lion's.5 In Ontario alone it's expected that 160 million dollars6 is given
to charities. With this additional funding the charities will be able to help
so many more people that they would otherwise without this funding.
One more of the bonuses of having casinos in Ontario is the fact that
they bring tourists in from other areas of the province or other countries.
Both the casinos in Niagra and Windsor attract large quantities of people from
the United States. If we did not have the gaming houses people from these
locations and Ontarians would just go to another place to gamble, like Las Vegas.
Although is no way to tell the number of tourists coming to the casino and then
going to other businesses in the district to spend money it is know that on
average casinos in Ontario attract 14,0007 people per day. With that many
people going to these cities each day, who knows how many will be visiting other
places to spend money.
People may say that there are a lot of people that are becoming addicted
to gambling each day, but the average person spends only $578 each time they
visit a Canadian casino. Of course Ontario will have some gambling addicts, but
we can create jobs to help these people, which in turn puts more jobs in our
economy. Another bonus of American's pouring money into our economy is that
we will not have to worry about their social problems such as gambling
addictions. There is no doubt that some people are going to be addicted to
gambling, but with any way of raising money there are going to be some problems.
When looking from many angles at casinos, they are a worthy way of doing
many things. The biggest windfall of the casinos is the money that they bring
both to the government, charities, and workers. Yes, there are thousands of
jobs that are created at the gambling houses too. Also with all of the people
that come to gamble, there will be a lot of people who will want to see the
scenes and possibly buy souvenirs to increase the tourism trade. Casinos are a
good way of raising money for good things that can happen, plus when someone
goes to a casino they have a chance of winning, a small chance, but it is there!
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