OLG Salaries Under Scrutiny
An article which has appeared in The Globe and Mail has outlined how executives with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. have seen their incomes rise almost 50 per cent during a period when pay increases for public-sector managers were supposed to have been frozen.
The report states that executives at the OLG received lofty pay increases during a period (2010 to 2012) in which Crown corporations were supposed to be reducing the dollar amounts of executive performance payments.
The article states that public-sector restraint legislation was introduced in 2010 and that it is still in effect. The report states that, 'Total compensation for the 10 highest-paid executives at the OLG jumped 49 per cent to $3.6-million in 2012 from $2.4-million in 2010.'
The article has cited OLG Chair Paul Godfrey as attempting to justify the pay exception OLG executives have been privy to. He was cited as saying that the pay increases came in the form of bonuses to those that reached performance targets.
The report has cited Godfrey as explaining that the OLG execs must be paid competitive private-sector rates for their work due to the fact that the corporation is a "hybrid" public entity that has the mandate of maximizing revenue for the Province of Ontario. The article quoted Godfrey as saying, “Without performance pay, we wouldn’t be able to attract the people to do these types of jobs.”
The report states that in 2012, current OLG CEO Rod Phillips earned 73 per cent more ($672,989) than what his predecessor, Kelly McDougald, was paid in 2008 ($388,041) (Please note that of Phillips' 2012 earnings, $297,989 of it came in the form of bonus pay).
The article also explains how the OLG is spending much more than other provinces to operate gaming enterprises.
The OLG is in the midst of one of the biggest privatizations in Canadian history.
(With files from The Globe and Mail)
This appears to be all the
This appears to be all the doing of Paul Godfrey ... as he became active as the OLG Chairman in February 2010. If they're paying more money to attract "better" people ... its NOT working.
As far as the OLG Head Office goes , it should be primarily in Sault Ste. Marie as was the original intention of the Peterson Government. There's absolutely no need (in this day and age) to have every Government Head Office in Toronto or Ottawa.
I think Paul Gangle has the
I think Paul Gangle has the right idea. Disband and form a new body under one roof and exec's get PS wages not the inflated nonsense of Godfrey & Co !!
Can we say "Crooked" ?? Or is
Can we say "Crooked" ??
Or is it just grab what you can before the ship sinks??
And of course kill the Slots payout !! Need that money for enhanced executive salaries you know !!
Unbelievable. Just thinking.
Unbelievable. Just thinking. Bruce T. Winning
P.S. No executive (public service) should be paid more than the premier.
Does this really surprise
Does this really surprise anyone? If anyone really wants to make a good living anymore and not want to have to work for it, join the Liberal Party. Its absolute BS how these people get away with this.
Bonuses to run a monopoly,
Bonuses to run a monopoly, REALLY. How about the 40 million $ of taxpayers money they spent to advertise a business with no competition.
On the same note you have the Drummond report that recommended the closure of one of the 2 casinos in Niagara Falls losing money and ONE of the 2 head office, presumably the one in the Sault.
In regards to Mr Philips all I have heard from him are exaggerations and distortions of the truths. 200 million $ hosting fee for Toronto and "We don't want the problem gambler" and he knowingly knows that problem gamblers are the "bread and butter of casinos" and how will he control it when the Big Boys from the U.S take over gaming here. Does he think they would care about a problem gambler ? They cater to problem gamblers knowing they make up a big percentage of their income.
The population of Ontario is 13 million people or 39% of the Canadian population yet we are the most taxed province in this country. These monopoly's (OLG and LCBO)are suppose to return much more but they don't. It seems everybody running them are helping themselves or not running them lean like a private sector business would. Slots machines, 5.5 per cent of the clients generate 31 per cent of the revenue for the casino. And at table games, 12 per cent of the clients generate 57 per cent of the revenue.
....And we dare ask why
....And we dare ask why everyone else in Government is tightening the belts as told to us , while the whole time Godfrey and his band were handing out " BIG TIMR BONUSES "....How HYPOCRITICAL!!!!!!!!!!
And so it begins.... all is
And so it begins.... all is not what it seems to be at the OLG. The racing industry has been virtually reduced to a pittance while the OLG executives reap fat bonuses under Godfrey who is now attempting to justify their excessive salaries. Time to clean out the rats nest. Suggestion.... disband the OLG and form a new body under one roof to regulate all gambling in Ontario with representation from all interested parties. We don't need three head offices.... two in Toronto and one in Sault Ste. Marie.