About: Casinos, International Mega Projects--The Demise of Canada
My Vancouver includes the whole city ; not just the glitzy, up-scale, reserved for the celebrity, elite, wealthy, or "International"US Tourist.
My world still includes the family.
The Following photos were all taken within a very few blocks of the Convention Centre, Cruise Ship Terminal- right in the middle of Vancouver's "WORLD CLASS"??? (better known as 'Slum City'-the Lower East End) tourist district. They represent the images of Vancouver that tourists carry home with them.
Does anyone really believe that the province of British Columbia or that the city of Vancouver should have been even giving consideration to half a billion dollar, LUXURY, CASINO AND HOTEL, EXPANSION that is far beyond the scope or affordability-of the average, budget conscious, environmentally aware (24/7/365, mega Hydro/infrastructure demand), family oriented hard working, Vancouverite. Boy, and WE talk about countries that appear to be going in entirely the wrong direction. If you want LasVegas; go to Las Vegas hopefully you'll stay there.
Truly Canadian Institutions, businesses that truly benefited, contributed to, and helped build; the Canadian economy; such as Woodward's, are no more.
There is precious little in Canada that is still Canadian, we owe it to our children and to future generations to preserve what little is left.
Vancouver council unanimously reject 500-million casino expansion; but, does the city really have that power? In reality, the city likely has little power to block a use it doesn't like in BC Place land because it's provincial land and exempt from city zoning (we also have a provincial election coming up in the near future). BC gets about $ 1.5-billion in revenues from casinos, which accounts for more than half of the approximately $2.5- billion it gets from all GAMBLING or" GAMING"???
As well it's already clear the city won't even be able to demand any benefits from the development. I wonder if the city now has any say at all. That is because the city already agreed two years ago that any profits the province got from developing the land would be used only to pay for the $400-million upgrade to the BC Place roof. In the past, the city had extracted some contributions from casinos for inner-city services. That won't be an option this time. When the PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT pushes this deal through Vancouverites are going to expect some benefits for the neighbourhood. But there won't be. There is a big question as to whether casinos are even that profitable any more. Municipalities benefited handsomely , when casinos first opened, as the province gave them a small percentage of the profits.But as more USA owned and operated casinos have opened in recent years and as the recession hit; small CANADIAN OWNED AND OPERATED, family BUSINESSES, have been forced into bankruptcy, job lay-offs have occurred, and profits have been spread thinner and thinner.
Vancouver has made some small strides in presenting itself as a city where urban-planning techniques and architectural styles are based on the core values of SUSTAINABLE, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT--judging from the lower East End ("Slum City"), it still has an awfully long way to go.Some Vancouverites (the Wealthier "Middle Class") see these values reflected in the growing collection of innovative green architecture, vibrant neighbourhoods, transit options, green space, and a lack of highways bisecting the city.
The proposal by Crown-owned, US backed, BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) and Las Vegas- based Paragon to further Americanise British Columbia by building this mega-casino, boasting a gambling floor the size of two football fields (twice the size of BC Place) and 1500 slots, does not reflect The traditional British Columbia, world renowned for it's life style, NATURAL BEAUTY and diverse if very non-integrated cultures
Inwardly focused toward USA dictatorship, dominance, and MONOPOLY; casinos, INTERNATIONAL CORPORATIONS, BLOCK SUPERSTORES are by their very design and function a parasitic drain on society.
Through a combination of financial incentives, including inexpensive food and alcohol, casinos create tempting scenarios that dominate a visitors reason for travelling downtown. As a consequence, casinos, international Corporations, superstores have very limited benefits for the surrounding neighbourhood restaurants and other business. As we have so often seen in past years--such projects are responsible for the demise of many, many much more beneficial endeavours.
FURTHER READING:http://algirvancanadian.blogspot.com/2011/04/it-is-not-strong-dollar-but-high-wages.html
My world still includes the family.
The Following photos were all taken within a very few blocks of the Convention Centre, Cruise Ship Terminal- right in the middle of Vancouver's "WORLD CLASS"??? (better known as 'Slum City'-the Lower East End) tourist district. They represent the images of Vancouver that tourists carry home with them.
Does anyone really believe that the province of British Columbia or that the city of Vancouver should have been even giving consideration to half a billion dollar, LUXURY, CASINO AND HOTEL, EXPANSION that is far beyond the scope or affordability-of the average, budget conscious, environmentally aware (24/7/365, mega Hydro/infrastructure demand), family oriented hard working, Vancouverite. Boy, and WE talk about countries that appear to be going in entirely the wrong direction. If you want LasVegas; go to Las Vegas hopefully you'll stay there.
International tourists do not come to British Columbia or even to Canada looking for Casinos, Luxury Spas, Or Extravagant Resorts; they already have them much closer- in their own countries. Most do not come here to hunt or kill-they would much rather enjoy, observe, possibly photograph.People come here to see and enjoy Mother Nature's beauty-the very things that have ALREADY made CANADA FAMOUS world wide. Clean, wholesome, unspoiled-- at a price they can afford.
THEY COME TO SEE CANADA,
THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH.
There is precious little in Canada that is still Canadian, we owe it to our children and to future generations to preserve what little is left.
Vancouver council unanimously reject 500-million casino expansion; but, does the city really have that power? In reality, the city likely has little power to block a use it doesn't like in BC Place land because it's provincial land and exempt from city zoning (we also have a provincial election coming up in the near future). BC gets about $ 1.5-billion in revenues from casinos, which accounts for more than half of the approximately $2.5- billion it gets from all GAMBLING or" GAMING"???
As well it's already clear the city won't even be able to demand any benefits from the development. I wonder if the city now has any say at all. That is because the city already agreed two years ago that any profits the province got from developing the land would be used only to pay for the $400-million upgrade to the BC Place roof. In the past, the city had extracted some contributions from casinos for inner-city services. That won't be an option this time. When the PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT pushes this deal through Vancouverites are going to expect some benefits for the neighbourhood. But there won't be. There is a big question as to whether casinos are even that profitable any more. Municipalities benefited handsomely , when casinos first opened, as the province gave them a small percentage of the profits.But as more USA owned and operated casinos have opened in recent years and as the recession hit; small CANADIAN OWNED AND OPERATED, family BUSINESSES, have been forced into bankruptcy, job lay-offs have occurred, and profits have been spread thinner and thinner.
Vancouver has made some small strides in presenting itself as a city where urban-planning techniques and architectural styles are based on the core values of SUSTAINABLE, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT--judging from the lower East End ("Slum City"), it still has an awfully long way to go.Some Vancouverites (the Wealthier "Middle Class") see these values reflected in the growing collection of innovative green architecture, vibrant neighbourhoods, transit options, green space, and a lack of highways bisecting the city.
The proposal by Crown-owned, US backed, BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) and Las Vegas- based Paragon to further Americanise British Columbia by building this mega-casino, boasting a gambling floor the size of two football fields (twice the size of BC Place) and 1500 slots, does not reflect The traditional British Columbia, world renowned for it's life style, NATURAL BEAUTY and diverse if very non-integrated cultures
Inwardly focused toward USA dictatorship, dominance, and MONOPOLY; casinos, INTERNATIONAL CORPORATIONS, BLOCK SUPERSTORES are by their very design and function a parasitic drain on society.
Through a combination of financial incentives, including inexpensive food and alcohol, casinos create tempting scenarios that dominate a visitors reason for travelling downtown. As a consequence, casinos, international Corporations, superstores have very limited benefits for the surrounding neighbourhood restaurants and other business. As we have so often seen in past years--such projects are responsible for the demise of many, many much more beneficial endeavours.
FURTHER READING:http://algirvancanadian.blogspot.com/2011/04/it-is-not-strong-dollar-but-high-wages.html
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