Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Chances rolls snake eyes at Terrace Council

Terrace residents looking for an available  video gambling machine may have to make the ninety minute drive to Prince Rupert for the foreseeable future, the quest from the Terrace Chances to add more machines was shot down by Terrace Council by a slim majority.

With a vote tally of 4-3 Terrace Council said No to an additional 25 machines for the Terrace Chances, the vote against,  one which would appear to be at odds with a public forum last week, where community group supporters seemed to put the odds in favour of the local gambling parlour.

Citing concerns over the social cost of adding machines, the four who voted against the proposal suggested their main concern was the enabling of financially desperate gambling addicts, a group which  is seemingly at risk by providing them with an additional 25 machines to gamble at.

It was an argument, not particularly shared by the three against who outlined their opinion that it was not up to Terrace Council to tell the public how to spend their money, highlighting the number of charities in the Terrace area that received funding from the Terrace Chances.

A few points were brought up during the debate over the last few weeks that Terrace council of the day did approve the construction of the Gaming Centre in the first place, making the argument against the extra 25 machines somewhat puzzling.

At the initial council meeting when the proposal first came up, the Terrace Chances representative, outlined that the current level of machines was not meeting the demand, with some Terrace residents apparently willing to travel to Prince Rupert to play on different machines and with less of a crowd surrounding them.

For the near term it would seem they'll be making that trek for a little bit longer.

Terrace Standard-- Terrace council turns down bid for more slot machines
CFTK TV-- Slot Machines Rejected (video)
CFTK TV-- Terrace Council Denies Request for More Slot Machines

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