The Rideau Carleton Raceway began welcoming the public to use its slot machines on Feb. 18, 2000. (CBC)Ottawa's slot casino has raked in hundreds of millions of dollars for taxpayers since it opened in 2000. Nevertheless, a decade later, there is still controversy about whether it ultimately harms or benefits the community.

On Feb. 16, 2000, The Rideau Carleton Raceway unveiled a slot casino with 1,250 machines where gamblers could try their luck. The games like "Rich Little Piggies" and "Treasures of the Acropolis" drew such massive crowds on opening day that at one point no more people could be let in. Prior to that, the raceway, which opened in 1962 on Albion Road in the city's south end, had offered only horse racing and betting.

In the past decade, at least 15 million people have come to play the slots in Ottawa. In the 2008-09 fiscal year alone, the machines took into more than $140 million, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. reported.

The corporation is a provincial agency that operates and manages lotteries, casinos and slots facilities at horse racing tracks in Ontario.

About $3 million of the Rideau Carleton Raceway's slot revenues went to the City of Ottawa last year.

Osgoode Coun. Doug Thompson said the slot casino in his ward has contributed more than $35 million in the past decade to the City of Ottawa and the former City of Gloucester (which is now part of Ottawa.)

Thompson added that it also supports a lot of local charities, draw busloads of tourists from all over eastern Ontario and provides more than 285 jobs.

"A majority of those are local employees and so a lot of their money goes back into the community as well," he added.

But "Mary," an Ottawa resident who is currently in treatment for a gambling addiction, said she doesn't think those benefits are worth the great costs.

Coun. Doug Thompson said the slots have brought many benefits to the city and he hasn't personally heard of any problems caused by them. (CBC)"If we could have real stats on what's happening as a result of the casinos being here, I don't think it would be anything positive for the people," added Mary, who did not want to reveal her identity publicly.

"I think they're just another way that people can lose a lot…they're causing more social harm."

She doesn't think casinos should be legal in Canada.

Mary, a retired public servant, said she lost so much money at the slots that she was forced to sell her home. At one point, she barely had enough money for food.

"I think I was a quarter of an inch from freaking out totally."

Problem gamblers bring revenues: study

A 2005 study conducted by the Responsible Gambling Council, a non-profit organization that researches gambling and educates the public, estimated that 3.4 per cent of Ontario residents are problem gamblers.

That is somewhat lower than the 4.8 per cent estimate made by University of Lethbridge researchers in a 2003 study. Those researchers estimated that 4.8 per cent of Ontario residents have a gambling problem, and those residents contribute about 36 per cent of casino revenues.

That study, funded by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, based estimates on the answers of 2,424 residents surveyed by telephone as well as detailed diaries of 92 problem gamblers and 272 people without gambling problems. The research centre is an independent agency funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health.

When the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. was asked about the study, it questioned the validity of the results, saying the sample size was too small. However, the company has no statistics of its own about the proportion of revenues that come from problem gamblers. It said it is not planning its own study.

OLG spokesman Paul Pellizzari said the company has no way of determining who is a problem gambler.

"We are retrainining our staff to help players empower themselves so they can be able to play in a responsible way," he added.

OLG is now testing technology to allow players to voluntarily set limits on the time they play, Pellizzari said.

Thompson said OLG is very concerned about people who may become problem gamblers, and he noted that the agency does direct those people toward treatment.

However, he said he has not personally heard from anyone who has been affected by gambling problems as a result of the slots.