My thoughts on the casino

 I really love this city. I was born here. I have lived here for most of my life. I went to school here. I got a university degree here. I bought a house here. And now, I own a recording studio in the downtown core and am working towards raising a family of my own in this community. I work hard to make my contribution to our community a feasible one. I’m not naive, this is not the best or most lucrative place around to make art or music. With that said, the pedigree of musicians that come from Hamilton is undeniably high. Hamilton is the place I call home, and I am proud to live here and face these challenges daily. I’m from Hamilton, I have thick skin.

So what is my opinion on the casino? Well, I do not want a casino in my community at all.

There have been many debates going on and I find them tiring to follow. My feeling, and this is not limited to the casino itself, is that this city is going through some growing pains while it passionately tries to reestablish itself as the great city that it was. But it is important we remember this is a slow, and very long process.

Over the last few years I have watched many small businesses take a crack at being something special that contributes to the rebuilding of our city. They come and go. We have watched some smaller businesses and ideas truly flourish, like many of those on James and Locke. We have seen many restaurants and shops open up in connection with Columbia College. We’ve watched McMaster establish itself as one of the best universities and medical brain trusts in the country. But we still get anxious, sometimes we really want fast change. But that’s natural. Real lasting change takes time. As the expression goes, “they didn’t build Rome in a day”. Growth is supposed to take time because it needs to be linked to something bigger, reliable and strong, often a resource and that used to be steel. So what happens when your resource or industry dies...the city tends to die too. But we have new resources in this city and they are connected to people, ideas and health. I think it’s really important to watch the cities largest and most relevant institutions like Mcmaster, Mohawk, Columbia and the medical Industry. We like to say that art is the new steel...that's a nice idea but far too romantic. Ideas and health are the new steel. Arts, music and culture, when working in harmony with these larger institutions, will continue to attract people and investment to our community. Together, the cultural industry, the medical industry and the education industry are re-branding this city into something I am truly proud of and believe will work....because it already is. This is no pipe dream. This is happening.

But, now “we” want to build a casino in the middle of something that has harmony and vision. Hamilton has been a poorer city historically. It is one that’s been considered the “armpit of the province”. But, it is going through a tremendous amount of positive rebranding. A brand that is defined as “the place where Torontonians are moving” and this new identity is being accepted and published nationally. This is something I believe will keep growing with these primary industries. What could be more out of step with this brand than a Casino? What else could possibly offer less to the momentum and ideas that are currently growing? I can’t think of anything.

So why am I against a casino? The casino to me will cloud this idea, this vision, this momentum and this progress. The casino is old Hamilton thinking. It is so ass backwards to put it in a city that has a “strained” public health care system as it is. It is so ass backwards to put a monument to vice and excess in a city with a positive striving medical institution. It is so ass backwards to put something so tacky and un-respected in a city known for its hardships. Hamilton needs some curb appeal, it needs a new identity and it needs some roots that will really last. We have a new steel industry, it’s education and medicine. We need to entice investment from businesses that fall into the truly symbiotic nature that those listed above do. We have to rally against the short sighted, insular business that a casino will be. Hamilton needs a real foundation. Not a quick fix, not something to cloud the vision, not a casino.





Michael Keire