The president of the Las Vegas company proposing to build a massive casino adjacent to B.C. Place Stadium says his casinos in Vancouver, Alberta and the United States are safer than shopping malls.

Scott Menke of Paragon Gaming Inc. made the comment after the Courier pointed out several crimes have been tied to Lower Mainland casinos, including homicides, extortions, robberies and loansharking.

“There’s crimes tied to nursing homes,” said Menke after a presentation Thursday to the Vancouver Board of Trade at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. “The reality is, we work as an industry to make this the safest environment to come and spend your time. Because of the amount of money, there’s more scrutiny on security, surveillance and experience than in any other type of industry. We’re safer than shopping malls.”

Paragon Gaming operates the Edgewater Casino at the Plaza of Nations and casinos on First Nations reserves in the United States and Alberta, including the River Cree Resort in Edmonton. A man was shot and killed outside the River Cree in August 2008.

Testimony at the trial of two men charged with killing Mohamed Ali Ibrahim revealed the men were in the casino before being kicked out by security guards. A woman was also injured in the shooting.

About 120 people attended a meeting on gaming Wednesday night at the Chinese Cultural Centre in Chinatown. Many cited concerns with crime and gambling addiction and called for moratoriums on gaming expansion until the provincial government appoints an independent body to examine the full impact of gaming in B.C.

The previous night, more than 100 Edgewater employees wearing “Don’t gamble with our jobs” T-shirts showed up at a forum on gaming at the Roundhouse Community Centre.

When the Courier asked Menke Thursday if he was concerned about attracting crime and creating gambling addicts to a new casino, he replied, “Not at all. I would be more concerned about Internet gaming or gaming that’s done not in a regulated responsible casino.”

Paragon wants to relocate its operations to a new site adjacent to B.C. Place Stadium and build a casino with 150 games tables and 1,500 slot machines. It would be the biggest casino in Western Canada and be part of a complex that includes two hotels, restaurants, a theatre and cabaret.

B.C. Pavilion Corporation, a provincial Crown corporation, owns the site and signed a 70-year lease with Paragon after the company won a bid to develop the land. A public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 17 on the proposal, which must be approved by city council before it can go ahead.

Menke acknowledged the casino will be a big driver of the company’s revenues at the complex—of which $17 million a year is promised to the city—but said Paragon is not solely a casino company. Paragaon purchased the Edgewater in 2006, but its lease with the landowner expires in 2013.

“We don’t like to build casinos,” he said. “We purchased the Edgewater for the reason of building a destination. Our property in Edmonton has 250 rooms at the Marriott Hotel, 20,000 square feet of meeting space, two hockey arenas—it’s entertainment.”

mhowell@vancourier.com

Twitter: @Howellings