The creation of a new commercial Crown corporation set to launch in April 2023 will handle lotteries and gaming in Saskatchewan, the provincial government said in a news release. Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan (LGS) is expected to launch April 1, 2023, consolidating the management oversight for casinos, VLTs, lotteries and online gaming, the province said. “As part of the new Crown corporation, the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation will be reconfigured as a wholly-owned subsidiary of LGS, while continuing to operate Casinos Regina and Moose Jaw. Management of the VLT program will move from Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) to LGS, as well as online gaming from SaskGaming. Lotteries will continue to be operated by SaskLotteries (SaskSport) and Western Canada Lottery Corporation but overseen by LGS,” the release said. SLGA will then regulate lotteries, which the province said is to amalgamate regulatory oversight for Saskatchewan’s gaming activities. The new Crown will not make changes to Saskatchewan’s gaming and lottery operators and all beneficiaries of net gaming and lottery income will remain unchanged. Selloff of SLGA liquor stores The announcement of LGS comes on the heels of the government’s announcement of a plan to end its involvement in liquor retailing in 2023, something it has been working towards since 2015. Currently, 34 government-run liquor stores remain open in Saskatchewan, including six in Regina and five in Saskatoon. The province is aiming to have all 34 locations closed by March 31, 2023, adding the SLGA distribution centre will not be impacted. "With year over year declines in net revenue at SLGA retail, our government has made the decision to get out of the business of selling liquor," Minister Responsible for SLGA Lori Carr said in a release. According to the province, profits were $9.4 million in 2018-19 and fell to $3.2 million in 2021-22. The retail store permits associated with the 34 stores will be sold via a public online auction process beginning in early 2023, the province said. Carr said that will give the private sector ample opportunity to make jobs available to the more than 300 SLGA employees who are now out of work. “There will be lots of opportunities for private industry to buy those retail stores and there will be jobs available for people within the industry.” Carr also said that groups of SLGA employees will also be able to bid if they so choose. "Anybody has the opportunity to bid," Carr Said. " So if there is a group of [SLGA] employees that decides they would like to run a liquor store they can pull their resources together and bid on it just like anyone else," she said. The government has fired back by releasing an email it received last November from Nathanial Teed, who ten months later would become an NDP MLA. In the e-mail, Teed said he believes that the Saskatchewan government should phase out running any liquor stores. Teed said his opinion has since changed. "After so many conversations with people, you realize that these are really important issues for folks. Good jobs, you know, good union jobs,” he said. The government said it will remain in liquor wholesaling which earns about $300 million a year, which is 99 per cent of all liquor revenue and not something the government is willing to give up. “I don’t think they were mismanaged. I think what has happened is people have choice and they have chosen where they want to go buy their liquor,” Carr said.
