The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is betting a new Greater Toronto Area casino will create thousands of new jobs and attract $3 billion in private investments.

The location of the new GTA casino is still undecided, said OLG chair Paul Godfrey as he unveiled the agency’s strategic business review Monday at Queen’s Park. But Woodbine Racetrack in the west end, the CNE, Ontario Place and even the Portlands southeast of downtown are said to be possibilities.

“We are prepared to move forward immediately on discussions with municipal leaders to bring one new, world-class gaming centre to the GTA,” Godfrey said. “It will create jobs and be a catalyst for economic growth and prosperity. It will generate new revenue and be crucial for tourism.”

If the changes are made, $1.3 billion more could be added to the public purse, said Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

The review calls for underperforming gaming facilities to close and for new casinos to be built with private money, although a municipality has to show interest first. It’s unclear which other cities could also get a casino, although Ottawa is a possibility, Godrey said.

It also calls for an expansion of slot machines beyond racetracks, which threatens the profits of Woodbine Entertainment and other Ontario track operators. On the chopping block is a revenue-sharing agreement with racetracks that gives them a cut of the slot profits, amounting to $345 million a year. The horseracing industry is concerned the move will put thousands of people out of work.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Councilor Doug Ford, have made it clear they want a casino and even mused it could help them pay for transit expansion. Toronto has received nearly $175 million from Woodbine profits, OLG said.

The modernizing plan is a bid to prop up the agency and bring needed revenue to Ontario as it fights a $16 billion deficit. It includes selling lottery tickets online, in big box stores and supermarkets, and moving 6,000 jobs to private operators.

“Lottery tickets can be in drugstores, multi-lane stores, the Walmarts, the Costcos of the worlds,” Godfrey said.

A socially responsible and secure Internet-based gaming site will also be introduced — as was previously announced.

Overall, the strategy should create 2,300 net new jobs and 4,000 service and hospitality sector spinoff positions, said OLG CEO Rod Phillips.

Bringing in the private sector would mean moving 6,000 gaming positions to the private operators managing the OLG sites.

Already, 60 per cent of gaming employees in the province work for private operators at resort casinos.

But according to the OLG’s strategic business review, in the next 18 months, the agency wants to see 100 per cent employed by the private sector.

That worries the Canadian Auto Workers, the union representing nearly 4,000 OLG employees. “We don’t think privatization is the way to go,” said Bob Orr, assistant to CAW president Ken Lewenza.

“We went on record with them saying there should be a moratorium on any new gaming sites,” Orr said. “This is not the way to offset lost revenues caused by the loss of manufacturing jobs.”

The New Democratic Party accused the government of trying to balance the books on “desperate families who want to try to become millionaires.”

“In my view, this is not the way to raise money,” said NDP MPP Rosario Marchese (Trinity–Spadina). “This is not the way to create jobs responsibly.”

Duncan disagreed. “People gamble. Prohibition doesn’t work.”

Ontario must act now to reform the OLG or everyone will suffer, said Godfrey. The current OLG model is unsustainable due to offshore gambling sites, declining border traffic and limited spots to buy lottery tickets, he added.

If the gaming corporation doesn’t modernize, $1 billion in public capital will be needed just to update the current service, he said.

“Doing nothing means our contribution to the province will continue to erode,” Godfrey said. “If we stand still, OLG’s bottom line will erode. The province’s bottom line will erode.”

The private sector can manage the casinos, run the tables, the concession stands and provide capital funding for new builds, the plan states.

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“What expertise does a Crown corporation have in running a hot dog stand in a casino?” asked Duncan.

Private sector involvement would mean $3 billion in new capital investment dollars, Godfrey said. Policy control over lottery and gaming would stay with OLG.

“We are basically saying, you own the structure, we’ll own the customers,” Godfrey said.

No details were given as to which underperforming casinos will close, he added.

However, gaming sites near the U.S. border are suffering. Profits at border facilities have plummeted from $800 million in 2001 to $100 million in 2011.

The rising Canadian dollar and the need for passports at the border have “all contributed to a significant decline at our border sites,” said Godfrey.

Duncan insisted the Windsor and Niagara Falls casinos will not shut down.

OLG is currently responsible for 23,000 slot machines, over 500 games tables, 27 gaming facilities and over 10,000 lottery terminals.

Although the revenue-sharing agreement is on the chopping block, slots won’t necessarily disappear at all racetracks.

The agency is studying slot machine locations and they may move some.

“I am sure in some areas there will continue to be slots at racetracks,” Godfrey said. “In other areas we may find it is more beneficial, because of an erosion of the performance or the population is too far away, to consider an alternative site.”

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