James J. Lawson is Chief Executive Officer of

Woodbine Entertainment Group Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two horse racing tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates ...

, a businessman and lawyer. Lawson was appointed CEO of Woodbine Entertainment in 2015. Lawson was formerly the Chair of the Board of Governors for the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

Lawson has served twice as interim Commissioner of the

. Lawson stepped down as Chair after the 2019 CFL season. He has been a partner at

Torys LLP Torys LLP is a Canadian international corporate law firm with offices in Toronto, Calgary, New York, Montreal and Halifax. The firm acts for a wide range of commercial clients and financial institutions in Canada, the United States, and glob ...

and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP and has served as a director of

Algoma Steel Algoma Steel Inc. (formerly Algoma Steel; Essar Steel Algoma) is an integrated primary steel producer located on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Its products are sold in Canada and the United States as well as overseas ...

, Zargon Energy Trust, Countryside Power Income Fund and Sleep Country Canada.

Education

Lawson attended

Aldershot High School Aldershot School is a grade 7–12 school located in Burlington, Ontario. Although the current school building was constructed in 1959-1960, the original Aldershot School was built in 1870, making the name the oldest in continual use for an educ ...

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...

. From 1975 to 1976, while in high school, Lawson played hockey for the junior A-team

Burlington Mohawks The Burlington Cougars are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team from Burlington, Ontario. They are a part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. History Founded in the early 1950s, the Burlington Mohawks found their footing in the Central Junior ...

, now called the Burlington Cougars. For the next four years, attending

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

on a hockey scholarship, he played for Brown's

Brown Bears The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share t ...

while earning his degree in economics. He went on to receive a law degree from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

Hockey career

In 1978, Lawson, while playing for

, was drafted into the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in the NHL Amateur Draft. From 1979 to 1982, he played three professional seasons for the

Nova Scotia Voyageurs The Nova Scotia Voyageurs were a professional ice hockey team, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atl ...

, the Canadiens' affiliate in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. During this time, he also played with the International Hockey League's

Flint Generals The Flint Generals were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center. The Generals won two league championship ...

. He then spent two seasons with Flamborough of Ontario's Senior A League.

Canadian Football League

In September 2013, Lawson was appointed chair of the

's Board of Governors. Following CFL Commissioner

Mark Cohon Mark Steven Cohon, (born March 16, 1966) is the chairman of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). He was also the 12th commissioner of the Canadian Football League. The son of McDonald's Canada founder George Cohon, he was a ...

's departure in January 2015, Lawson was appointed as the League's interim Commissioner, remaining until the appointment of

Jeffrey Orridge Jeffrey Lyndon Orridge (born 1960) is the chief executive officer of TVOntario, the provincial educational television network. He was appointed effective November 30, 2020. Previously he served as 13th Commissioner of the Canadian Football League ...

in April 2015. After Orridge left in June 2017, he was again appointed interim Commissioner until the Board selected current Commissioner

Randy Ambrosie Randy Ambrosie (born March 16, 1963) is the 14th and current commissioner of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Ambrosie played Canadian football professionally as an offensive guard for the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts, and Edmo ...

. In November 2019, Lawson stepped down as Chair in order to focus full-time on his increasingly time-consuming role as CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group, which by then included not only racetracks and a casino but real estate development near Toronto Airport. Ambrosie presented Lawson with the CFL's Commissioner Award during the league’s annual awards banquet. In October 2021, Lawson was inducted into the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame. Also in October 2021, Lawson joined the executive committee of the Hamilton Sports Group, which owns the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

, alongside Bob Young and CEO Scott Mitchell, becoming a minority stakeholder in March 2022.

Westerkirk Capital

He was fired from Westerkirk Capital amid allegations including

self-dealing Self-dealing is the conduct of a trustee, attorney, corporate officer, or other fiduciary that consists of taking advantage of their position in a transaction and acting in their own interests rather than in the interests of the beneficiaries of ...

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

and misusing his office equipment to view pornography. Lawson commenced legal action for unfair dismissal against Westerkirk and its owner, Sherry Brydson. All legal proceedings were discontinued in September 2017, and Lawson "apologized unreservedly to Ms. Brydson for the circumstances that led to his departure from Westerkirk" as well as withdrawing all allegations he had made involving Ms. Brydson, her family, employees and advisors.

Woodbine Entertainment Group

In 2015, while still Chair of the Canadian Football League's Board of Governors, Lawson became the CEO of

, Canada’s largest racetrack operator, for which he had previously served as Chair. During his tenure,, Lawson led the development of the lands around the

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...

in the

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

neighborhood of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. During the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic, Lawson sent letters to Ontario lawmakers seeking allowances similar to those allowed the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

and AHL to help racetrack workers to keep their jobs. Prior to the 2010

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

, which is held yearly at the

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, who was in attendance, approached Lawson, whose family was running a horse Ghost Fleet in the race, to discuss

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

and his family's history in racing. The Queen was intrigued by Ghost Fleet's lineage to

Northern Dancer Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred who, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canad ...

, the first Canadian-bred horse to win the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

and a prolific sire.

References

External links

* 1958 births Canadian Football League commissioners Lawyers in Ontario Living people American horse racing industry executives Canadian racehorse owners and breeders Canadian sports businesspeople Brown University alumni University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian ice hockey centres Montreal Canadiens draft picks Nova Scotia Voyageurs players Hamilton Tiger-Cats owners {{Canada-business-bio-stub