Paul Godfrey ousted from OLG, entire board resigns

Paul Godfrey has been ousted as chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG), and the rest of the OLG Board has resigned, Godfrey said at a news conference Thursday night.

“I haven’t been given any reason for this decision, nor do I think there’s a particularly good one,” an animated Godfrey said, before giving a lengthy rundown of his successes with the organization. They included back-to-back years of record revenue and a clampdown on frauds.

“I will look back fondly on my experience with the OLG,” he said. “My main concern is that the momentum created, could falter.”

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said he met with Godfrey on Thursday afternoon to deliver the news.

“The Government of Ontario appreciates the commitment that Mr. Godfrey has made as chair of OLG and thanks him for the significant accomplishments made during this period,” Sousa said in a statement.

The secretary of the cabinet, Peter Wallace, will serve as interim chair.

Godfrey, who held the OLG position since February 2010, said he didn’t believe Premier Kathleen Wynne shared his “vision” for a casino in Toronto and added there was a “chemistry difference between” them. 

He defended offering Toronto what many considered a special deal on a casino that included a hosting fee of up to $100 million a year. Godfrey said those numbers were approved by the previous finance minister Dwight Duncan.

“It wasn’t a sweet deal that we offered the city,” he stressed. “This was a deal Minister Duncan approved and told us to go and negotiate with the city.”

He also said he didn’t believe his dismissal had anything to do with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s frustrated comments on Thursday.

Ford cancelled a special council meeting next week to consider whether Toronto should host a casino and called the Toronto casino debate “dead” because the province wouldn’t commit to a hosting fee.

“I will not ask council to go through a very divisive and gruelling debate next week to approve a casino that the premier is no longer interested in,” he said at a hastily scheduled news conference at city hall.

“I’m not married to a casino. I didn’t campaign on a casino. If the province won’t agree to [$100 million for Toronto,] then the deal is dead. We are not going to carry on with the casino debate.”

The NDP said Godfrey was a sacrificial lamb for a short-sighted plan.

“The Liberals appointed Paul Godfrey to privatize gaming and build casinos in communities that don’t want them,” said NDP Finance critic Michael Prue. “The plan backfired and now they’re throwing him overboard.”

Full text of Charles Sousa’s statement:

I met with Paul Godfrey this afternoon and thanked him for his leadership as Chair of the Board of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) since February 2010.

Mr. Godfrey led a significant turnaround in the operations of the OLG.  Based on his extensive career in public office (including Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto from 1973 to 1984) and in the private sector (currently President and CEO, Postmedia Network), Mr. Godfrey brought seasoned leadership and deep commitment to his role as Chair of OLG.  Under his leadership, OLG re-invented itself and became a modern and more efficient organization.  OLG undertook a strategic business review of its entire operations that brought greater focus and discipline to this important public agency.

Mr. Godfrey is a corporate leader who understands the importance of contributing to the public sector and the importance of the revenue generated by OLG in supporting public services such as health care.  As a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, he has consistently demonstrated his dedication to our community time and again.

The Government of Ontario appreciates the commitment that Mr. Godfrey has made as Chair of OLG, and thanks him for the significant accomplishments made during this period.

An interim Chair of the OLG has been appointed effective immediately to assist with the ongoing implementation of the OLG’s modernization plan.  The position will be filled by Peter Wallace, Secretary of the Cabinet.