CEO for the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Paul Godfrey was recently fired from position. As it happened, the entire board followed by resigning in protest. Needless to say, all of this news has created much confusion in this locale which is Canada’s largest province.
Speculation that something might be in works came out a few days prior to Godfrey’s removal. The dismissal of Godfrey came during a meeting with Charles Sousa, Finance Minister. After the meeting concluded, Godfrey announced to the press that no reason for his sacking had been given to him by the Minister or anyone else for that matter. He suggested that there were no known good reasons for his removal that he could think of and simply said that he had been fired.
Later, Minister Sousa did put out a statement that praised Godfrey for his work in turning around the OLG. He did not, however, offer any further information as to why Godfrey was fired.
It has been reported that Premier Kathleen Wynne is said to have list of possible replacement for Godfrey already in hand. In the meantime, Peter Wallace, cabinet secretary, will be the interim CEO. Unless something changes, however, he will not have a board to report to. The former board was shocked at Godfrey’s removal and resigned, all of them, in protest of the sudden action.
Premier Wynne has made it no secret that she does not support gambling. She took office back in February when Dalton McGuinty resigned the position. This happened long after the OLG had begun some sweeping changes and expansion plans which included some new casinos as well as the launch of legalized online gambling. It is reported that later this summer proposals for the casino as well as bingo software will be sent out to providers.
Godfrey later said that his most pressing concern about being fired is that it may stall all of the work that OLG has done so far. If the plans for expansion are indeed stalled, the province could see a loss of some $1.3 Billion from annual tax revenues. The province is already in deep financial debt and these added revenues would go a long way in helping the province. Godfrey went on to say that Premier Wynne had said to him that she wanted the OLG to go in a different direction. Godfrey believes the government cannot afford to do so at this time.
As of this writing, there are no details concerning if the old board will return to work or if a whole new board will have to set into place. Also, there are no details just yet as to how the removal of Godfrey and the loss of the board will affect any pending actions that may be in the works at this time. Further information is expected to be forthcoming, but no one at this time seems to be able or to be willing to discuss when this might happen. Certainly, residents of Ontario will be awaiting news.