Today, Mayor Provenzano issued the following statement in regards to Ontario Lottery and Gaming’s (OLG) announcement concerning lottery modernization:
Said Mayor Provenzano, “I’d like to commend the leadership at OLG for arriving at this informed and prudent decision. I think stakeholders across the province can feel reassured that the best interests of Ontarians have been safeguarded, knowing that going forward, our provincial lotteries will continue to operate to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.
“This is also positive news for our community in Sault Ste. Marie. The news that OLG’s lottery operations are going to remain in public hands removes a major source of economic uncertainty for our city. As the headquarters for OLG, Sault Ste. Marie has acquired significant expertise in lottery and gaming and the sector supports many local jobs. Now we can be confident that those jobs and expertise will remain in the community and we can turn our full attention to growing the sector and becoming a North American hub for lottery and gaming.
“OLG has long been a fixture in our community and I am glad that they will continue to be a significant presence here for the foreseeable future. I look forward to seeing the new investments in lottery operations that will occur as part of the modernization process and I thank the corporation’s leadership once again for their continued commitment to Sault Ste. Marie.”
Well it’s a pity they aren’t going to privatize. The bloat in the OLGC is epic. Any private company would have a fraction of the staff. And marketing? Anyone who knows anything knows marketing lottery products is hardly required and if they want to do it could make do with 20% of the staff. Most if what they do is major overkill or make work.
This is only a partial victory, perhaps timed to appear as a good news story before the provincial election next year. The reality is that many aspects of the OLG’s Modernization Plan are in full swing. The OLG is still selling off its operations to private interests only in smaller chunks. The Casino and Slot Facilities are going to private hands for the next 20 years (stated contract timelines for private service providers). The public interests are still being switched over to private interests. Don’t trust the rhetoric.
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