Mr. Speaker, December 12 is the grand opening of Windsor's second casino location, the Northern Belle Riverboat. With this event the total number of casino jobs created in Windsor will rise by 950 to a total of 3,000. Ninety per cent of these jobs are from the Windsor-Essex county area.
The Northern Belle will entertain 2 million patrons on top of the 5.5 million that already visit the existing site. Eighty per cent of those visitors are U.S. residents. That means 80 per cent of the dollars spent are foreign dollars.
One of the major competitive advantages to Casino Windsor over its American counterparts has been the safety factor which will be further strengthened by the recent successful passage of the government's gun control legislation. The legislation will not only increase the safety of Canadians in Windsor. It also means good
economic sense in Windsor because it leads to an environment in which job creation thrives.