Edmonton community leagues raise alarm over Camrose casino’s new application to relocate

August 3, 2024 Canuck

As a casino in Camrose, Alta., makes a second bid to relocate to a site in south Edmonton, the city’s federation of community leagues has renewed its opposition to the plan because of the potential impact on city charities.

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) has confirmed to CBC News that it’s reviewing an application to move the casino from its current location in the city 95 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. The casino wants to move to a location in Edmonton’s southeast Summerside neighbourhood.

This is the second time the casino has applied for relocation. Its previous application was rejected by AGLC in November 2022.

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) says the proposal, which includes the casino keeping its rural designation, has raised concerns about the impact on gaming revenues for its community leagues.

“That’s just a really vital source of funding for us,” said David Berry, communications and engagement adviser, told CBC’s Edmonton AM on Thursday.

Edmonton AM5:37Camrose Casino is pushing to move to south Edmonton for a second time

More than a year ago, Camrose Casino lost a bid to relocate from Camrose to a site in south Edmonton. Now it’s trying again. David Berry is the communications and engagement advisor for the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.

According to the AGLC website, charitable organizations share casino proceeds after volunteering to manage a casino event, usually over two days. Interested groups apply for an event and are assigned to a casino within its designated region — usually, the region where the organization is located.

With a rural designation, Edmonton charities and not-for-profits would be excluded from revenues.

An AGLC spokesperson told CBC News that this would not be the first urban casino with a rural designation in Alberta.

“Currently, rural charities in southern Alberta are served by Ace Blackfoot (Casino), which is located within the Calgary city boundaries,” said senior communications officer Lynden McBeth.

Casino events at that venue are reserved for rural organizations that don’t have an existing casino facility.

The Camrose casino application states that if the casino is relocated, Edmonton urban charities are expected to see a five per cent decrease in charity pool payments, while host First Nation charities are expected to see a two per cent decrease in charity payments.

Rural charities, however, will see an increase of more than 50 per cent in payments.

According to the AGLC website, a charity Edmonton currently waits an average of 23 months to host an event, for which it will earn an average of $41,500. In comparison, the wait for an event at the Camrose casino is about 41 months — the longest in the province — with the average proceeds being $6,100.

‘Keeping the lights on’

In 2023, $5 million in casino revenues went to 111 of the Edmonton federation’s 163 community leagues

Berry said a lot of community league funding is tied to grants or specific projects, while casino revenue can be used for operational costs like “keeping the lights on, which is huge for us,” he said.

He said the federation was surprised to learn about the new application and the fact that it does not address the previous rejection due to community opposition.

Berry said the league is hopeful that the community would rally again to urge AGLC to reject the relocation. Feedback on the proposal is being accepted until Aug. 21.

“It was overwhelming community opposition that helped stop it so I’m hoping we can see that same kind of opposition come from the community,” he said.

AGLC said in an email to CBC that it will consider “any policies tied to the relocation would be reviewed to ensure compliance” to current policies, terms and operating guidelines as it evaluates the application.

CBC reached out to Capital City Casinos Ltd., the company making the application, but did not receive a response.

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