Mayor Says All OLG Jobs Should Be At Sault Ste. Marie

Verzoekschrift gericht aan: Committee on Petitions (Petitionsausschuß)

At a face-to-face meeting last week, Sault Ste. Marie's mayor, Matthew Shoemaker, told Crewpier, chief executive of the Ontario Lottery and Game Company, that all jobs at OLG should be in the city. Duncan Hannay, president and CEO of OLG, organized a face-to-face meeting Thursday to introduce a new market. 홀짝게임

In April 2018, when Mr. Shoemaker was a Ward 3 councillor, he attempted to lobby the city council for the idea of making OLG jobs a hot topic in that year's local elections. Mr. Shoemaker introduced the resolution and supported by the then-MP, Mr. Ozie Grandinetti. OLG aimed to transfer all OLG jobs to Sault St. Marie if elected.

Now the mayor of Schumaker said he used all of last week's sessions to reiterate his longstanding position that all jobs at Crown Corporation would be based in Salt. He said the discussions went well and hoped OLG's senior recruiters and Citi's recruiters could come up with joint recruitment or other possibilities.

In 2018, Mr. Shoemaker said that having OLG's two headquarters was not the best idea. One in Toronto, one in Sault Ste. Marie. He also said that not having all OLG jobs at its headquarters in Sault was irresponsible with taxpayers' money and took a step back from the promise the government made when it moved its headquarters in 1987.

Stephen Rigby, the former chairman and CEO of OLG at the time, also agreed with the idea. He said Crown's plan is to continue to strengthen its business while improving the customer experience with new digital, innovative, and responsible entertainment options. He noted that the contribution of Sault Ste. Marie's employees is critical to continuing success and achieving those goals.

However, Schumaker's resolution submitted to the city council in 2018 failed to pass the vote. He expressed his hope that one day the province's future leader would make it mandatory for the royal agency to transfer all its work to its main office, the Salt Ste. Marie. His wishes as mayor may now prove to be more influential.

Meanwhile, just last week, Ontario's inspector general, Bonnie Lysyk, released a report on OLG's operations that criticized several aspects of Crown's choice. For example, AG found that there were two better bids from other companies in 2019 when Crown chose Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment as the operator of two Niagara Falls casinos.

In addition, Mr. Lysik's report examined OLG's online betting platform. She noted that while online sports betting is thriving, most players do not take advantage of many responsible gambling features, such as time and spending restrictions. She also informs us that OLG's funding for the liability gambling program has decreased from C$20 million in 2016/17 to C$7 million in 2021/22.