BARRHEAD - The Town of Barrhead and Woodlands County are throwing their support behind Capital City Casinos' effort to move its gaming operation, the Camrose Resort Casino, from Camrose to Edmonton and the Ellerslie Industrial area.
Not because they are worried about what will happen to Capital City Casinos, but because they want to help charities in rural communities receive more charity casino revenue.
The company applied to the Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) to relocate in September 2021. AGLC denied the application, a decision that Capital City Casinos is appealing.
On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Town of Barrhead councillors instructed the administration to draft a letter, asking the AGLC to overturn its decision, while Woodlands County council approved a similar decision a day later.
Barrhead's town council decision was spurred by a request to lobby the provincial agency to allow the move from the Town of Smoky Lake's mayor Amy Cherniwchan, while Woodlands County was the result of a similar request, from the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA).
The crux of both letters is that the province's gaming model unfairly favours urban charities, which have both better access to charitable casino revenue and access to a larger revenue pool. This is because charitable organizations are usually assigned casinos in their region, and organizations from rural communities are relegated to casinos outside the two main cities. As a result, they receive less money than similar organizations in Edmonton or Calgary.
It is worth mentioning that if the AGLC approved the move, the casino would still be part of the rural charity gaming pool serving the same charities as they do now.
The RMA notes that the casinos in St. Albert and Camrose "currently produce the lowest per-event revenues and have among the highest wait times (for not-for-profit organization casino dates) in the province, while Edmonton's five casinos produce the highest average per-event revenues in the province and have the shortest wait times."
The RMA also calculates that rural Alberta charities in the Camrose and St. Albert regions have been short-changed over $250 million since the inception of charitable gaming in Alberta, versus their Urban peers.
Barrhead mayor Dave McKenzie said the provincial charity gaming model is something rural charities and municipalities, on their behalf, have been lobbying the successive governments for years, with little success.
He also noted that their county counterparts will also be lobbying the AGLC to support Capital City Casinos' application.
"It is so unfair how (casino funds) get distributed," said Coun. Dausen Kluin, adding anything they can do to get the government to create a more equitable system is something they should do.
Woodlands County
Community services coordinator Heather Anderson said AGLC's decision stands will greatly impact the county's not-for-profit organizations, many of which rely heavily on casino gaming funding.
"Currently, many of our community groups have to wait for up to two years to get on the (casino event list), and they don't make a lot of money at the Camrose casino," she said. "So, if the move is allowed, they won't have to wait as long to get a slot, and the return will be bigger."
Whitecourt East Coun. Jeremy Wilhelm said a not-for-profit group he belongs to relies on casino funding, noting that they have been frustrated that they always have to go to a casino in Grande Prairie rather than one of the higher-grossing gambling houses in Edmonton.
Anderson said she is not sure how the AGLC determines which casinos charities are assigned except that not-for-profits in rural communities are relegated to casinos in smaller communities.
"The other thing we need to consider is that (the Camrose casino) will close if they are not allowed to move," she said. "Which means there will be more of a backlog for casino dates and smaller payouts."
In the RMA information package sent to municipalities, they note that if the Camrose casino closes, 650 charities in rural communities will lose all their charitable gaming revenue.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
