Skip to content

Still committed to casino in Sudbury, OLG says

Despite years of delays, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. hasn't given up on building a casino in Greater Sudbury.
010915_MS_Slots_3
The first labour disruption since 2008 has hit staff at Sudbury Racetrack Slots, who were locked out Saturday by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. after the sides failed to reach an agreement in bargaining Thursday and Friday. File photo.

Despite years of delays, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. hasn't given up on building a casino in Greater Sudbury.

For the last couple of years, the OLG has said it wouldn't move ahead with plans for putting the casino plan up for public tender for Sudbury and other cities in the Northern Gaming Bundle until the process was complete for the East Gaming Bundle. *The OLG doesn't plan to build the casino themselves, but to come to a revenue sharing agreement with a private operator, who would build and run the facility.

In an email Tuesday, OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti said that process is near completion.

“OLG is in the final stages of evaluating RFP proposals from prospective service providers in the East Gaming Bundle,” Bitonti said.

“OLG needs to ensure proper due diligence as these are very complex documents that could lead to long-term contracts.”

Announced by government of former Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in 2012, the OLG's original plan called for an end to the revenue-sharing agreement with Ontario's racetracks in favour of operating standalone casinos in 29 gaming zones across the province.

The goal was to release the request for proposals by the end of 2012, following a multi-stage process in which operators would pre-qualify for a chance to bid on the casino project. The goal was to open in 2013 or 2014 at the latest.

The OLG estimated modernization would add as much as $1.3 billion to the provincial treasury.

The northern gaming zone – which includes Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Kenora – was combined so anyone who wanted to build a casino would have to commit to operating facilities in all of those communities.

However, the political fallout of ending the revenue-sharing agreement with racetracks hurt the governing Liberals, particularly in rural ridings.

When Premier Kathleen Wynne came to power in January 2013, her government began to backtrack on the process, and signed deals with racetracks to provide them with transitional funding.

Eventually, her government came out with a five-year, $500-million plan to support racetracks, although the province failed to come to an agreement with Sudbury Downs, which closed in 2014.

The OLG did sign an agreement with the Downs to continue operating the slots facility at the Chelmsford track, at least until the casino issue was settled.

The OLG hasn't given a time estimate for when the process will move forward in the North, beyond saying it will happen “in the coming months.”

Bitonti repeated that line Tuesday.

“We are applying the knowledge gained from the East Gaming Bundle process to the other six other Gaming Bundle RFPs, including the North Gaming Bundle,” he said in the email. “We expect the other RFPs, including the North Gaming Bundle, to be released in the coming months.”

*Clarification: An earlier version of this story may have left the impression the OLG would own and operate a casino in Sudbury and other areas of the Northern Bundle. That is not the case.


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.




Darren MacDonald

About the Author: Darren MacDonald

Read more