Earlier this week, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation officially announced that it would be pursuing its plans to launch its own online casino. While most industry professionals were pleased with the news, some politicians were not. The OLG’s plan has been criticized for being a bit too short-sighted.
Tim Hudak of the Conservative Party has been very vocal about his opposition to the OLG’s new online gambling website. Rather that criticizing the idea, however, he has gone after the Premier Dalton McGuinty:
“Trusting Premier Dalton McGuinty with a new revenue source is like giving the keys to the liquor cabinet to teenagers and going away for the weekend.”
Being skeptical about the government’s ability to successfully create a steady, new revenue source is understandable – especially when it comes to gaming. The OLG has recently come under fire for several scandals involving insider wins and executives’ inappropriate spending of company money.
Other criticisms concern the amount of competition that is already taking place in Canada’s online gambling market. There are several Canadian-facing online gambling websites, such as BoDog, which are already very well-established. So, there is some doubt over the OLG’s ability to offer a competitive online gambling product that will reclaim some of the country’s online gambling spending.
