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!