A motion for the Auditor General to review the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s “Slots at Racetracks” program, moved by Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod was carried by the Legislature this week.
Local MPP Jim McDonell and several Ontario PC Caucus members spoke in favour of continuing the revenue-sharing agreement that netted the government over $1 billion per year. McDonell criticized the government’s approach and repeated his caution on the job losses resulting from the government’s ill-advised move.
"[The government’s] decision was made without the input of the ministry it so affects and without the benefit of a cost-benefit analysis that, as flawed as it was, was only completed two days after the budget was read. Even a quick review shows an industry that contributes over $1 billion to the province’s coffers, employs an estimated 60,000 jobs in our rural communities and provides over $50 million to the municipalities they reside in. This does not include the economic spinoff that’s estimated to exceed $1.5 billion.
"I say to this government that it’s time to wake up and start to run the province as the people of Ontario expect and demand."
