The ABC-dominated Vancouver City Council voted to allow Parq Casino to expand from 600 to 900 slot machines right next to Chinatown. This decision will enable the continued financial exploitation of Chinese seniors in the neighbourhood.
We know that some Chinatown seniors have come close to becoming unhoused due to gambling addiction, and that many take the 23 bus straight to the casino. This is on top of the direct targeting of East Asian seniors in Parq’s outdoor ads and the free shuttles it operated from Chinatown prior to COVID-19.
We also heard that the revenue will be “concentrated among higher-risk players,” resulting in “disproportionate impacts on vulnerable groups.”
Specifically, people earning $40,000 or less per year are identified as a high-risk group, and that “roughly 5% of players with problem gambling generate about one-third of revenue” where a disproportionate amount of revenue comes from slot machines. The full report can be read here.
ABC Councillor Lenny Zhou, who previously worked in health care, says this is all worth it for the two full-time and twelve part-time jobs the slot machine expansion will create. That is just 14 jobs in total, and not even all of them are full-time.
We also learned that Carol Lee’s Vancouver Chinatown Foundation is one of Parq Casino’s main community beneficiaries.
This means that the Chinatown Foundation, including the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, is funded on the backs of exploited Chinatown seniors.
City staff did note that a future City Council could choose to retract the slot machines by initiating a new rezoning process.
As we head into the next municipal election, this is an issue worth keeping in mind.
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