OHHA Organizes Rally For Racing

Published: February 15, 2012 04:31 pm EST

A rally has been planned at Queen's Park --- tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, February 22 --- to show support for the Ontario horse racing industry.

A release issued today by the Ontario Harness Horse Association, explains that in 1998, the Ontario horse racing industry negotiated an agreement charging the Ontario government a fee which allows them to locate and operate slot machines within Ontario horse racing facilities, in direct competition with the industry.

It goes on to state that in 2011 racetrack slots generated roughly $1.7 billion; and from that revenue, the Ontario government paid roughly $355 million in operating costs and paid roughly $345 million to the horse-racing industry to cover its negotiated fee. As it works out, in 2011 alone, the Government of Ontario cleared over $1 billion from revenue generated at racetracks across the province without investing a penny in the industry.

The release offers a direct quote from OHHA, which states, “The horse racing industry is a self-sustaining industry. We have never taken a penny from the government. We subsidize the government, not the other way around.”

The release states that, according to recent statements by Ontario Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan, the government plans to renege on the signed agreement with the horse-racing industry which will have a devastating impact on those that rely on horse racing for their livelihood. The horse-racing industry is at risk of losing the industry, the jobs and participants' sole source of income if the McGuinty Liberal Government follows through on its threat. Many horse racing participants will either leave the province or end up on social assistance. It happened in Quebec four years ago, and it is about to happen here in Ontario.

The release states that the Ontario horse racing industry is an industry which has always survived on its own and never received a penny from the government. It breeds and races horses bought at auctions. It gets its income from pari-mutuel wagering. Many of its participants are self-employed and therefore cannot receive benefits. The only option is welfare. If the Minister of Finance, Dwight Duncan, thinks taxpayers are subsidizing the Ontario horse racing industry now, wait until thousands of its participants are unemployed. Given the present state of the economy, the last thing the people of Ontario need is a greater burden on their already stretched tax dollars. OHHA believes this proposal is short sighted, destructive, and vindictive and will destroy rural Ontario and its prestigious agricultural industry.

OHHA is asking all Ontarians to join it in saving a way of life and the livelihoods of thousands of men and women that rely on horse racing for survival.

The release states that efforts to organize a rally at Queen’s Park (tentative for Wednesday, February 22, 2012) are well underway, and a follow-up press release will announce the date and time as soon as they have been confirmed.

To view a copy of the OHHA release, click here.

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