Earlier this week certain media outlets mentioned the possibility of a new destination casino in Surrey, British Columbia. We think this is highly unlikely.
On September 24th, the Surrey North Delta Leader published an article on three applicants proposing a destination casino in Surrey, BC. Clearly a new casino in BC would not be positive for Great Canadian. However, shareholders can relax; the probability of Surrey getting a destination casino anytime in the intermediate future is highly unlikely.
One article mentions that the town of Surrey has three pending applications for gaming facilities. Two of the applications are for a destination casino, one of which proposed a C$100MM project with a 200-room hotel and 800-seat convention center. The third application is to spend C$25MM to upgrade an existing bingo hall. Apparently, several of Surrey's council members have spoken out in favor of a destination casino.
Curiously, the article doesn't mention the BCLC (British Columbian Lottery Commission), the organization in charge of managing and operating all gaming in the province of British Columbia. The article also omits the small issue of the moratorium on new licenses in BC, which will pose a pretty tall obstacle for the two new applicants. We suspect that this is why the BCLC was not cited in the article.