It is safe to say that 89-year-old horse owner Leo Thibodeau knows a thing or two about the economy. He lived through The Great Depression. He's thrived in the Canadian trucking business. He's owned racehorses for 42 years. And he knows the Ontario Liberals' gaming modernization approach will be massively detrimental to the province's bottom line
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The Ontario Liberals, via the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., trumpeted prosperity months ago when it announced its modernization plan. They did their best to completely ignore the elephant in the room: the almost-literal slaughter of the slots-at-racetracks program. Thousands upon thousands of lost jobs will become reality. Billions in economic impact will instantly halt. Billions in revenue for the government to run its programs --- including health care and education --- will be put in peril.
It was just a few months ago when the OLG crept beneath the radar and tip-toed over to Windsor Raceway. Under a relative cloak of secrecy, they dropped their payload when they announced that they were shutting down their gaming machines at the Windsor Raceway, even though they just made $100 million in profits last year. Mass layoffs ensued. The shockwave couldn't be withstood by the racing side of the track, which recently announced that it will be closing all operations later this summer.
Remember, Leo Thibodeau has seen it all --- and he can see this one coming from miles away.
In an article by The Windsor Star, Thibodeau has commented on the treatment Windsor Raceway and the Ontario horse-racing industry has been given by the provincial Liberals, who should be seeing the growing tidal wave at this point.
“It isn’t (smart),” Thibodeau, a resident of Windsor, said about the OLG's recent decisions. “It’s going to have a reverse effect (on the Ontario economy), totally.”
Thibodeau went on to say, “They’ll be swelling the welfare rolls like you wouldn’t believe.” He also stated that he "can’t see the economics of it at all.”
In terms of what has happened to the Ontario horse-racing industry, since the Liberals made their moves with zero consultation, Thibodeau stated, “The whole industry is just a basket case.”
(With files from The Windsor Star)
The whole industry is just a
The whole industry is just a basket case is 100% correct.I don't think that the teachers or doctors of this province ,although they were unfairly treated,have spent as many a sleepless nights as we in the racehorse industry have. Mr Duncan & Mr Mcguinty have knocked the wind out of us & while we shed many a tear they continue to to deceive the public with their untruths about our industry. You would almost think that we don't use health care or send our children to school. We don't seem to matter at all. It's like we don't exist. If they get their way WE WON'T.