VANCOUVER – New Democrats have serious concerns after learning the former head of the B.C. Lottery Corporation has taken a job as the CEO of the company that will own the proposed new casino in downtown Vancouver.

“Michael Graydon is jumping right into a role where his inside knowledge could provide a huge benefit for a private company. Also this is a new casino proposal that presumably BCLC has helped negotiate the terms for. The optics are terrible,” said New Democrat gaming critic Shane Simpson.

“The B.C. Liberal government doesn’t appear to be concerned, but they should be. They need to release all documentation of agreements that put limits on Mr. Graydon. Did they put in place any contractual obligations that will keep Mr. Graydon from using this new position unfairly? Can they assure us that the current audit of BCLC will look closely at this completely unacceptable situation? Confidentiality is a serious issue, and not something this government should look the other way and ignore. We need complete transparency on this today if we don’t want British Columbians thinking the worst.”