Tories bet on Liberal to oversee Ontario Lottery and Gaming – Toronto Star

Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives are betting on a key Liberal to oversee Ontario Lottery and Gaming.

Ford has named Jim Warren, once a top aide to former Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty, to be the new chair of the provinces troubled gambling agency.

Warren, who was also once an OLG vice president, fills a vacancy left by ex-chair, Peter Deeb, who resigned for personal reasons earlier this year amid controversy.

Senior Conservative officials, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations, said the premier sought a cross-partisan appointee to keep a watchful eye on the gaming giant.

A frequent political commentator on CP24 and Newstalk 1010, Warren runs his own consultancy, Riseley Strategies, which has done work for Torstar, parent company of the Toronto Star.

More than two decades ago, Warren worked closely with Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips himself a former OLG chief executive in the office of the late Toronto mayor Mel Lastman.

The three-year OLG appointment pays $150,000 annually.

Earlier this year, the Toronto Sun reported the departure of Deeb, a Ford appointee, was tied to an Ontario Provincial Police investigation. No charges were laid.

In the summer of 2020, Ford indicated he wanted OLG executives to shape up after they were awarded big bonuses early in the pandemic despite casinos being closed and thousands of employees being laid off at rival private-sector gambling facilities.

The premier, whose government floated OLG a $500-million line of credit three months ago, was outraged at the unacceptable payouts and called Deeb onto the carpet.

For all these big smart guys, they arent too frigging smart, he said in August 2020.

Youve got to be sitting around the table and think, is this prudent to do this?

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)

Sign In

Register

Visit link:

Tories bet on Liberal to oversee Ontario Lottery and Gaming - Toronto Star