Casinos bust on Good Friday

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This article was published 14/04/2017 (3080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Winnipeg’s churches opened their doors in observance of Good Friday, the city’s casinos gambled that opening their doors for the first time on the holy day would result in a jackpot.

But McPhillips Station Casino appeared pretty quiet on Friday afternoon.

It marked the first time the provincially run McPhillips Station and Club Regent casinos had opened on a Good Friday; they also will be open for Easter Sunday. The buildings began operations at 10 a.m. Friday and will not shut their doors to customers until 3 a.m. Monday — before reopening that day at 10 a.m.

Two Winnipeggers on their way into McPhillips Station Friday afternoon — a woman named Lottie, who did not want her last name used, and a male companion who did not want to be identified at all — said the decision to allow the gambling centres to operate on traditional religious holidays was not controversial.

“You don’t have to justify (visiting a casino),” the man said, adding he was surprised it took until now for the province to OK such a move.

“It’s a 24-hour world we live in now… This is a business, a government-run business. They are in it to make money.”

Out-of-town visitors in the city for the long weekend would not be pleased if they booked into Club Regent’s hotel and found it was closed for half the time, he said. “Why would they stay there?”

“Everybody has different jobs, schedules. Everything has changed,” Lottie said. “It doesn’t mean I don’t celebrate (Easter), I do. But it doesn’t bother me.

“Well, they do have bingo in churches,” she added with a laugh, “(and that also) doesn’t bother me.”

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, the Crown corporation that oversees the Winnipeg casinos, first announced the move in March after the conclusion of what it called a successful pilot project for 24-hour weekend service at the two locations.

“Since introducing the extended hours on weekends, we continue to see increased traffic in both casinos,” ML&L corporate affairs director Andrea Kowal said Friday in an email to the Free Press. “The extended hours (decision) was in response to our customers and has proven to be very successful.

“The decision to operate extended hours on weekends and to be open on Easter weekend, responds to a need to be more flexible and responsive in how we do business. Closure days for businesses in Manitoba have diminished significantly over the years to give customers more options, particularly in the entertainment and hospitality industries.”

The casinos’ Easter opening does not appear to have the blessing of the Archbishop of Winnipeg. Richard Gagnon told the CBC he felt the decision to open on Good Friday puts profit before people.

“Obviously it’s for an increase of profits and the losers are probably the people who work in the casinos,” Gagnon told the CBC.

“Because a good number of those people probably have family interests and a few times throughout the year, like Christmas and Easter, these are the few time that families get together.”

By early Friday afternoon, the novelty of the decision did not appear to be much of a lure at McPhillips Station.

At 1 p.m., the third and second levels of the casino’s south-end parkade were completely devoid of vehicles, with the first floor sparsely populated. The facility’s north-end lot appeared to be roughly one-quarter full with plenty of large, wide open areas.

Inside, business was steady and accompanied by the usual bright lights and din of video lottery terminal chimes, but there was no lack of VLTs or seats at the gaming tables available. The restaurants were also noticeably quiet.

By 2 p.m., people continued to trickle in but the third level of the parkade remained empty. The second level, however, had added one car.

McPhillips Station senior manager on duty, Karen Scott, had no comment on the weekend’s anticipated customer flow nor any potential staffing issues, instead directing all inquiries to ML&L head office.

“Our staff have responded professionally and we have been able to fill all scheduling requirements for the Easter weekend,” Kowal said via email. “It is our understanding that all employee requests (for those unable to work) have been accommodated. Employees who work Good Friday and Easter Sunday will receive 1.5 times their rate of pay, plus banked time.”

scott.emmerson@freepress.mb.ca