''We really haven't turned down anything,'' said Ab Campion of the Consumer Ministry.
Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Fort Erie and Point Edward are hoping for full-scale, resort casinos like those already in Windsor, Orillia and, by December, Niagara Falls.
Other communities are lining up for up to 50 permanent charity casinos - limited to 100 or so video slot machines and 40 table games - to replace the 4,200 three-day ''Monte Carlos'' that roved the province last year.
The race will likely heat up next month after Bill 75 is passed in the legislature. The bill governs charity casinos and allows for video lottery terminals in bars and restaurants. As for full-scale casinos like Windsor's, the government has said it wants a provincewide referendum - likely next fall - before approving any more.
But a number of pitches are already on the table.
Many economically depressed communities are eyeing casinos like lottery players down to their last bucks.
: they're gambling on blackjack and slot machines as replacements for disappearing manufacturing jobs.
''This is the biggest thing that would hit this area in 15 years, since the chemical industry started downsizing,'' says Joe Simon, clerk in the village of Point Edward, a border hamlet of 2,300 near Sarnia.
A proposed $110 million casino-entertainment complex, which would overlook the river and draw visitors from neighboring Michigan, is big news in Lambton County and Sarnia.
Simon says the county's population is dropping and unemployment is higher than the provincial average, which is close to nine per cent.
''Our council feels strongly that if this proposal dies, our county is in trouble.'
Nearly 40 of Ontario's 900 municipalities have passed resolutions against having video slot machines or casinos in their district. Included are North York, Timmins and Owen Sound.