Press Release: Another Giveaway at City Hall: ABC Ignores Residents and Health Expert, Votes to Expand Slots by 50%
Vancouver, BC – In a narrow 5-4 vote last night, Vancouver’s ruling ABC party approved a 50% expansion of slot machines at Parq Casino, allowing 300 additional machines despite strong opposition from residents and objections raised by a top Vancouver medical health official.
Over 75 hospitality workers from UNITE HERE Local 40, along with community advocates and other residents, rallied at City Hall ahead of the public hearing, holding signs reading “Take Back Vancouver.” They urged Council to “stop the giveaways” to real estate investors backing the casino and to developers profiting at the expense of Vancouver’s working people.
ABC councillors Lenny Zhou, Lisa Dominato, Peter Meiszner, Mike Klassen and Brian Montague voted in favour of the expansion. The decision came despite public concern over negligible improvements to community benefits as well as gambling-related harms that failed to consider a forthcoming report from Statistics Canada on the Problem Gambling Severity Index.
Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, Vancouver’s Deputy Chief Medical Health Officer, strongly urged Council to reject the proposal over concerns of public health related harms. Councillor Pete Fry moved a motion to refer the proposal back to staff to review updated problem gambling data and further assess gambling-related health impacts. ABC councillors rejected it.
Speakers warned that the social and health impacts associated with expanded gambling would far outweigh the casino’s marginal improvements to community benefits. Opponents also noted Parq’s declining financial performance, growing competition from online gambling, the casino’s outstanding unpaid contribution of $400,000 to the City’s social responsibility fund, and lack of meaningful public consultation.
“This is a slap in the face to residents who spoke out,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40. “Council had an opportunity to pose serious questions to Parq about this proposal. Instead, ABC defied city residents and disregarded public health experts to side with a casino backed by wealthy real estate investors.”
Opponents also highlighted public safety impacts. Between 2020 and 2024, there were 1,439 police and fire calls to Parq – levels comparable to, or exceeding, some SROs on Granville Street that house Vancouver’s most vulnerable residents. Mayor Ken Sim and the Hospitality Vancouver Association have cited emergency call data in calling for the closure of several Granville Street SROs, raising questions about consistency in how that data is applied.
Concerns were further raised about where the 300 slot machines would be sourced. Because the BC Lottery Corporation partners with U.S.-based slot manufacturer IGT, a speaker questioned why Council would advance a proposal that could benefit an American gaming supplier with ties to the Trump Administration at a time when B.C. and Canada face punishing U.S. tariffs.
More than 3,000 letters were sent to Councillors opposing the expansion.
Media Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785