Godfrey Out As OLG Chair

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OLG Chair Paul Godfrey announced at a Thursday night press conference that he has been fired from his post as the Chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

In 2010, Godfrey was brought in by the Liberal government to clean up the OLG amid revelations of reckless spending and insider lottery wins. Two years later, alongside then Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, Godfrey dropped the bombshell heard around the harness racing world when he announced the new OLG modernization strategy that called for the end of Ontario's slots-at-racetracks program.

Godfrey, three years into a five-year contract, was a massive supporter of a downtown Toronto casino complex. When news broke that Toronto's revenue sharing deal was potentially sweeter than that offered to other cities, the perceived favoruitism landed him in hot water with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. Last month Godfrey defended pay raises to OLG executives while the province was under a public sector wage freeze, again raising the ire of the Premier and Finance Minister Charles Sousa, to whom Godfrey and the OLG reports.

On Thursday, Souza confirmed that Peter Wallace, secretary of cabinet and the head of Ontario's civil service, take over for Godfrey as Interim OLG Chair.

“I met with Paul Godfrey this afternoon and thanked him for his leadership,” said a statement from the Finance Minister.

Reports also indicate that the entire OLG Board of Directors has tendered letters of resignation.

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