The KNBIA has made a submission to council asking them to vote against the FEDCO Report recommendations. Of greatest concern to the Kanata North BIA is the lack of fair and transparent process in the selection of the site for a new OLG casino.  We do not believe that the proposed terms as outlined in the FEDCO Report are in the best interests of the City of Ottawa.

Note that the issue at hand is not whether or not a casino is the best choice for our community, or indeed where it should even be located.  The issue at hand is that the City’s motion effectively results in sole sourcing the casino site. The original process that the City agreed to last year, involved OLG receiving proposals for a new OLG casino and then choosing the optimal business plan and site for the City.  This process should be preserved.

The Kanata North BIA respectfully asks the City to engage in a fair, transparent, and competitive process.  This process would result in a thorough analysis where the costs and benefits of each submission are carefully considered and tabulated and a site is chosen based on merit.   Any other scenario in which businesses are not allowed a fair and competitive process for the casino site location, reflects poorly on the City in general, and specifically on Ottawa as a place to do business.