On Thursday, May 16, Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Monte McNaughton issued a statement regarding the firing of Paul Godfrey as Chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.

The contents of McNaughton's release appear below

McNaughton Issues Statement On OLG Resignations

The following is a statement by Ontario PC MPP Monte McNaughton responding to significant resignations at the OLG following the collapse of the Liberals casino modernization plan

“This evening we have confirmation that the McGuinty-Wynne casino modernization plan can be added to the long list of Liberal government disasters joining Ornge, E-Health and the political cancellations of the Oakville and Mississauga power plants.

With the ousting of Paul Godfrey as Chairman of the OLG and the further resignation of members of the OLG Board, the entire modernization process must now be graded as a massive failure that unnecessarily bullied and divided communities throughout Ontario.

Frankly, this all could have been avoided had the government focused on the important issues facing our province like health care and education. What we have witnessed here is a shocking example of Liberal government mismanagement. You have the Chair of OLG being directed to do one thing, then another; being urged to offer a special deal to the City of Toronto, then when the government has been caught, being directed to withdraw the offer and recalculate the formula.

The Ontario PC Party has always opposed the Liberal’s plan to build 29 new casinos in communities throughout Ontario. Instead, Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC Party have a different plan for gaming. We believe that government must regulate the industry, but it certainly doesn’t need to run its day-to-day operations. Neither do we need unionized employees serving drinks in casinos or spinning roulette wheels. What we do need is to disengage government from the daily business of gambling. It is time for the government to become the responsible, respected and tough regulator and not the operator trying to bully communities into accepting new casinos.”

To read the Paths to Prosperity papers, please visit: www.OntarioPC.com/paths.