Ford hiding big problems at OLG

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LILLEY: Ford hiding big problems at OLG
Premier's office taking a gamble by hiding audits Ford promised to make public

Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Jun 08, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • 100 Comments
Ontario Premier Doug Ford leaves his office for a press conference at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto, Thursday, May 13, 2021.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford leaves his office for a press conference at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto, Thursday, May 13, 2021. PHOTO BY FRANK GUNN /The Canadian Press
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What exactly is the Ford government trying to hide when it comes to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation?

Despite promising to release audits of the goings-on at the provincial gambling monopoly, those documents are now considered secret and other records are being held ransom by the Ford government.


Requests submitted through the provincial Freedom of Information system — which is supposed to grant the public access to the workings of government — have been met with outright refusals to release the material or demands of thousands of dollars in search fees.

Despite this being a pandemic, this is not small matter — OLG is a major source of revenue for the government.

Before COVID restrictions closed casinos and impacted other operations, OLG generated more than $2.3 billion per year for the government, that’s more than the LCBO.

Yet there have been problems within the organization for years that need attention and need fixing.

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It’s why Premier Doug Ford ordered the place audited after reporting from the Sun.

“I’ll tell you what we’re doing with OLG, we’re sending an auditing team in there,” Ford said in November 2019.

“There’s one thing I won’t tolerate is people wasting taxpayers’ money. So once we get the audit done, we’ll make sure we’re transparent, we’ll be talking to the media and you can look at the audit.”

Despite Ford’s promise, his government is now hiding what amount to two different audits of OLG.

According to sources, one audit deals with executive compensation at the organization and is not kind to OLG.

The second is believed to be expense-driven and given past reporting on OLG, that too would likely be embarrassing.

The government has stonewalled their release at every turn.

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Premier Ford’s office has said the audits are the responsibility of the Treasury Board, but officials in that department say the audits can’t be released until they are complete.

It is well known throughout government and the gaming industry that the audits are complete and are being protected.

Complicating matters now is that when Ford called for the auditors to go in, the cabinet minister overseeing the work was Treasury Board Secretary Peter Bethlenfalvy.

Since the end of December 2020, Bethlenfalvy has also been Ontario’s finance minister which means the OLG now reports to him and he is responsible for the organization.

Bethlenfalvy is in a definite conflict here, he was in charge of overseeing audits into an organization he is now in charge of.

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As for documents being ransomed, the Ford government is asking for nearly $3,000 in search fees to provide emails, memos, reports, etc. regarding the audits.

In their reply to the request for documents, the government also stated that they will invoke cabinet secrecy and other measures to ensure the full story is not released, even after the exorbitant fees are paid.

None of this is a good look for either the OLG or the Ford government.

The premier pledged to clean up the organization and 18 months later the audits he promised to make public are still hidden.

His handpicked chair of the OLG board, Peter Deeb, stepped down amid a police investigation and Ford’s office will not comment.

Deeb has been cleared by the OPP, as reported last week, but when asked whether Deeb would be reinstated, Ford’s office would only say they wouldn’t comment due to an ongoing investigation.

So what will they comment on at OLG? What will they make public?

The organization rakes in billions of dollars each year and apparently runs without proper public oversight because the government has decided that whatever is in those reports is too embarrassing.

It’s time for Ford to stop hiding the mess at OLG, release the reports and fix what is wrong with the organization.