The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) is well into the process of choosing private companies to manage casinos across the province. But no provider has yet been chosen, insists OLG. One the providers are chosen, they get to choose where to expand the operations.
About 300 employees of the existing casino in Sault Ste. Marie are worried about the status of their jobs.
Rumors that the prize had been awarded had to be fended off last week when Tony Titonji, the senior spokesman for OLG issued an official denial that the North Gaming Bundle or Southwest Gaming Bundle providers have been chosen.
The North Gaming Bundle includes Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Sudbury and two new proposed facilities in North Bay and Kenora. Only one of those proposed facilities will be chosen, said Titonji.
Communities that hope to be chosen often take actions to make them more attractive for a casino, such as changing the zoning and land use.
For example, in the town of Ajax, the town approved a land use change to allow the owner of a slot machine and horse racing facility to put in a casino with 200 gaming tables and 2,500 slots, which is three times what the current casino in the town has.
Its neighbor, Pickering, also wants to host a casino. Both communities have held elections where a majority of the voters said they favored casinos.
The city of Pickering approved a rezone application for Durham Live, a competition proposal. The Town of Ajax is appealing that approval.
Pickering Mayor David Ryan commented last week, “The reality is that the city of Pickering has an opportunity. We want to take full advantage of the opportunity that’s presented,. I wouldn’t call it a dispute. I think that there’s a natural competition that evolves from this, as one would expect.”
Announcements for the North and Southwest Bundles are expected sometime after the beginning of 2017. The successful bidder, could, for example, keep the existing Ajax Downs racing operating as is, or make it larger. It could also move it to Pickering, or somewhere else. Of course, that would be subject to approval by the OLG and the Ontario government.
The East Gaming Bundle providers were chosen last year. The OLG chose the Kawartha Downs Speedway race track and slot machines sites and a new casino to be built in Belleville of Quinte,
Titonji noted that transition meetings for employees of the existing facilities were held before those announcements were made.
The OLG insists that existing employees are guaranteed their jobs for at least a year after the new service provider takes over.
The OLG recently announced that it would not privatize lottery operations and cancelled requests for proposals. Instead it will modernize the operation in order to increase revenue for the government and create 2,000 new jobs and attract $3 billion in capital investment.
However, it is moving forward with privatizing its casino and slot machine operations.
