Aerial view of during the final day of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto (File)Fernando Morales/The Globe and Mail
Without gambling proceeds from the Canadian National Exhibition casino that quietly opened a week ago today, the fair as Toronto knows it would be mired in red ink, forcing taxpayers to cover the shortfall.
Financial figures obtained by The Globe and Mail show "The Ex" would have posted a $1.4-million loss last year, a $1.5-million deficit in 2007 and more than twice as much in 2006 had it not been for the profits of poker, blackjack, roulette and other games of chance, which account for more than a quarter of all fair revenues. Instead, the CNE made $2.1-million last year.
The City of Toronto is on the hook for any profits or losses the 18-day fair incurs under a long-standing agreement between the board of governors for Exhibition Place and the non-profit Canadian National Exhibition Association.
"The casino is a significant contributor to our annual operating revenues," said David Bednar, the fair's general manager.
"By all means, we would have a CNE without a casino, if it came to it, but we just wouldn't have as good a CNE," he said.
Gambling has been a staple of agricultural fairs in Canada for the past century, from bingo and horse racing to raffles and wheels of fortune. However, some Torontonians are surprised to learn that a modern casino - with 800 employees and 106 tables - operates out of the Better Living Centre for more than a month each year, 18 hours a day.
Vegas it's not. The stakes aren't high enough to attract the wealth and glamour of high rollers. The cavernous space is lit like a warehouse. The food concession offers your standard midway grub, though you can buy alcohol and drink it on a licenced patio.
Still, it draws a crowd: Younger gamblers queue up at the popular Texas Hold 'em poker room, and older players fill out the traditional tables.
Under provincial legislation, the CNE is permitted to open the casino weeks in advance of the main event because the association runs a fair-related horse show at the same time, which is free to the public.
Still, the casino, part of the CNE since 1991, can be a touchy subject, even though attitudes about gaming have changed significantly since 1993 when Ontario first allowed permanent commercial casinos in the province.
"I just think that the general public - they're not sure they like the idea of a casino and I guess we're all kind of sensitive to that," Mr. Bednar said. "It's not like we keep it a secret or anything. ... It just doesn't form a major part of our core [advertising]campaign because there's so much else we have to communicate."
Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, chairman of the board of governors for Exhibition Place, said it's important to remember that other cultural events get government grants, where the 130-year-old CNE gets none.
"The CNE is an amazing asset, which this city is lucky to have," he said. "The casino is a subset of all CNE programming and it's a subset that's discreet. It's not in your face."
Still, Mr. Pantalone, like other officials, is wary of public criticism over the arrangement.
"The whole city is a harsh critic of what we do here," he said. "There's sensitivity about gambling, but also sensitivity about the CNE and its relevancy."
In a good-weather year, the CNE draws about 1.3 million people to Exhibition Place. Attendance at the casino ranges on any given day from 1,500 to 3,000 patrons.
That relatively small number of gamblers has a huge financial impact and allows the fair to offer more free programming, better signage and cleaner venues than most others, said Mr. Bednar, who is quick to trumpet The Ex's upcoming $1.75 opening-day admission price in celebration of Toronto's 175th anniversary.
Typically, struggling fair boards try to squeeze more money out of their midways, he added.
In Ontario, any fair and exhibition that wants to offer casino-like games must submit detailed plans and get annual approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. This year, the CNE is the only one in the province to get a licence.
Casino employees must register with the provincial agency, which requires background checks. The AGCO also provides its own full-time staff in the form of seconded plainclothes OPP officers who stay on site until the casino closes.
They complement the CNE's own security detail, which includes regular guards, pay-duty Toronto police officers and a surfeit of surveillance cameras.
In 2007, Toronto council flirted with the idea of a municipally owned and operated casino as a cure for its fiscal challenges. The debate was quickly snuffed out by Queen's Park, which had little interest in creating competition for its Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.'s four casinos in Niagara Falls, Rama and Windsor.
"Who knows, if you did a plebiscite, what the population of Toronto would say about a year-round casino," Mr. Bednar said.
"They might like it. Maybe times have changed. But once a year, in connection with this event, it's a good financial support."