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TORONTO, March 11 (UPI) -- The Ontario Lottery Corp. in Toronto is taking political heat for buying 22 foreign-made Mercedes Benz cars as prizes instead of vehicles made in Canada.
The OLG bought the cars 10 months ago to use in promotions in casino slot machine facilities but provincial Public Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman, who oversees the OLG, said it was a bad decision regardless of the economic conditions at the time, the Toronto Sun reported.
"It was a crappy decision and I let them know it in full force that it wasn't going to be tolerated going forward," Smitherman said.
Smitherman said OLG went with the Mercedes-Benz cars because of its "flashy" name and they came at a discount to their $34,400 retail price.
The corporation was quick to issue a statement of apology.
"OLG regrets making the decision to feature cars in a customer promotion that were not built in Ontario," it said.
The Toronto Star noted OLG's Ontario-built alternatives could have been Acura CSX Sedans, valued at $26,990 or the Lincoln MKX Crossover with a sticker price of $42,700.
Ontario's large automotive manufacturing sector is in tatters based on the global financial meltdown.
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