Thought. Come dine at our ... www.oakvilleshops.com 1011 upper middle rd east , oakvi l le China Chopsticks Harveys Niblick Pub NIWA Japanese Restaurant Pizza Pizza Tarboosh Tent Swiss Chalet Thai Siam Food for BonAppetit! UpperOakville shopping centre 7 W ednesday, A ugust 17, 2011 O A KVILLE BEAVER w w w .insideH A LTO N .com Lynn Cassidy, executive director of the Ontario Charitable Gaming Association, assured council that all her organization is trying to do is transfer bingo to a different medium to attract new players. Charities and non-profits have seen their bingo revenues decline at a rate of 8-10 per cent each year over the last 10 years. In 1998, we had over 6,000 charities fundraising through bingo in 200-plus facilities. Now, we have about 65 facilities and under 3,000 charities that can access this method of fundraising, said Cassidy. The revitalization of charitable bingo initiative is intended to stabi- lize and grow the industry over the coming years by introducing tech- nology and products that are consis- tent with the existing charitable bingo gaming paper products. Cassidy said councils vote in favour of allowing e-Bingo was cru- cial not only to Oakville charities, but to thousands of other Ontario charities because Oakvilles response could play a role in whether other municipalities decide to welcome or shun e-Bingo. Cassidy said she received very clear direction from the Premiers Office that this initiative is about bingo and that slots are not part it. Cassidy received thunderous applause from the audience follow- ing the conclusion of her delega- tion. The initiative would also see break-open Nevada tickets, current- ly offered at bingo halls, in an elec- tronic format. However, it was pointed out that who wins and loses would be determined by a set pro- gram and not a random number generator. fCam Johnstone, owner o Oakvilles last bingo hall, Oakville Delta Bingo, also spoke to council and outlined the grave consequenc- es for his business if e-Bingo is not permitted in Oakville. Were losing money as we speak. I guess it would be within a month that we would close our doors, said Johnstone. I really dont want this to sound like a threat because it would be a business decision based on reality. We lost $300,000 last year and with- out the introduction of this technology, we cannot con- tinue our operation. Johnstone went on to say that he currently has 40 employees at the Speers Road bingo facility and plans to increase those numbers to 60 or even 80 if e-Bingo suc- ceeds in revitalizing his busi- ness. If Oakville Delta Bingo closes, local charities would be out upwards of $750,000 in revenue, which is raised at the bingo hall annually. The Town would also lose the $115,000 it would get in licencing revenue. Don Jarrett, vice president of the Oakville Optimist Club of Oakville, said bingo reve- nues represent 40 per cent of their budget. Without Bingo, Jarrett said the Optimists would have to apply for grants from the Town to accomplish their charity work. These funds have been used to support a number of community endeavors including contributions to both of the Town-operated youth centres, the YMCAs Strong Kids Campaign, the Kerr Street Ministries (KSM) Camp Program, recently $15,000 to provide play- ground equipment at the new Dream Centre, contributions to all six of Oakvilles food banks, sponsorship of minor hockey teams, sponsorship of an annual youth curling bon- spiel and a summer youth sailing program at the Bronte Yacht Club, said Jarrett. Without bingo funds many of these programs would have to cease. After hearing what was actually being proposed by the e-Bingo initiative, coun- cillors, who originally opposed it during the Administrative Services Committee last week, came out in favour of it. In 1997, Oakville voted overwhelmingly to send the concept of charitable gaming clubs packing. Based on some questions that got answered in Administrative Services, I had some concerns that this was creep and that we were opening the door to allow this to happen again, said Ward 5 Town and Regional Councillor Jeff Knoll. Since that time, I have done my own investigation, spoken to our friend from the OLG, got some questions answered tonight, had a very interesting interaction with a couple of the delegations and I am satisfied that, based on what I have heard and what I think is going to happen next, that I am going to support the motion going forward that will allow this (e-Bingo) to occur. Other councillors said they were amazed the issue actually got this far. I didnt support this motion (opposing e-Bin- go) at the Administrative Services Committee. I was quite disappointed when it passed, said Ward 1 Town and Regional Councillor Alan Johnston. fBasically the staf report endorsed bringing bingo into the 21st cen- tury. At no point was there mention of VLTs (video lottery terminals) and slot machines being intro- duced. The contract regarding the introduction of e-Bin- go will come before coun- cil for approval and con- sultation. Charities supported request to introduce e-Bingo to Oakville Continued from page 1 W W W P AL M AP AS TA C O M 4 H E )TA LIA N & O O D 3 H O P W W WDundas St E Prin ce Mic hae l Dr Tr af al ga r R d Upper Middle Rd E 403 2501 Prince Michael Dr (at Dundas St.) (905) 257-9200 www.palmapasta.com Hours: Monday to Friday 9 am - 7 pm, Saturday 9 am - 6 pm , Sunday 10 am - 4 pmValid until August 28, 2011Not to be combined with any other offers. 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