It probably never crossed your mind that there is a link between the cutting down of trees in the Osgoode Hall precinct and sports gambling. But I think there is.
Metrolinx is tasked with arranging construction of the Ontario rapid transit line, which starts just north of the Science Centre, linking to the Eglinton Crosstown, runs south through Riverdale, through the Distillery District, then along Queen Street from Parliament to Bathurst, then south to Exhibition Place. Construction will close this swath of Queen Street for about 10 years, causing enormous damage to the downtown.
Metrolinx says it must construct the Queen/University station within the Osgoode Hall precinct, perhaps the oldest heritage site in the city, hence the need to cut down many dozen mature trees. Other sites have been suggested for the station — the southwest or northwest corner, or in a realigned University Avenue itself — but Metrolinx refuses.
The purpose of the Ontario Line is to provide an alternative way of getting people east of Yonge Street to the downtown, relieving the Yonge Street subway, which will be heavily overloaded once it is extended far into York Region. It need not extend westerly from Yonge Street, but Premier Doug Ford has insisted that it continue on to Exhibition Place and the privatized Ontario Place.
Why? Because a new esports palace is about to be constructed at a cost of $500 million in Exhibition Place, directly across from the entrance to Ontario Place. The project was approved in 2020 as part of a grand plan for Exhibition Place. It contains a 7,000-seat hall and looks like a good place for rock concerts as well as esports competitions, something that has proved very popular.
The company involved is Overactive Media, which calls itself a “sports media and entertainment company.” It claims to own four major global esports franchises.
In Las Vegas, esports has also become part of the gambling industry, and one can imagine that this venue will probably become a gambling venue, much in the way that horse racing is really about gambling.
Sports gambling was not permitted in Canada in 2020, which is probably why members of Toronto City Council never saw this as a possible casino. But in 2021 a private member’s bill passed parliament amending the Criminal Code, allowing such activities. Premier Ford immediately jumped on the idea and has authorized virtually any international sports gambling company to operate here under conditions that have never been revealed. The Criminal Code still says gambling must be “controlled and managed” by the province and there’s a real question as to whether the province is controlling and managing these firms.
Premier Ford wants this facility to be successful, hence his willingness to spend some $5 or $6 billion in public funds to extend the Ontario Line from Yonge Street to the facility’s front door to ensure lots of people get to it easily. He sees big bucks for the province. Sports gambling in New York State was valued at $16.5 billion in 2022, with net annual revenue to the state of $900 million. There were 3.2 million unique users that year.
New York State has a population of just over 19 million, compared to Ontario’s 16 million, so the province will probably get total revenues from sports gambling of $750 million, with perhaps 2.5 million annual users. Some three per cent of all gamblers are seriously addicted — problem gamblers — which means some 75,000 people will be dragged under by this initiative.
And that is why, in my opinion, Metrolinx is so insistent on damaging our heritage and cutting down the trees in the Osgoode Hall precinct. Sports gambling, after all, is more important to the Ford government than any idea of mere heritage.
