He once owned a horse that competed in one of Canadian harness racing's most stories events: the Gold Cup & Saucer. Now after handling ministerial roles in provincial politics, Progressive Conservative candidate Mike Currie is taking a shot at the federal level
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Currie is a former provincial cabinet minister, representing the Georgetown-St. Peters district in Prince Edward Island since 1996 and serving as both the minister of transportation and the minister of industry for Premier Pat Binns. Currie made the decision to leave provincial politics to run against Liberal incumbent Lawrence MacAulay, who has held the riding in Cardigan, PEI for 23 years. Both Currie and MacAulay are grassroots politicians with long and successful political careers. And though it's been a long time since he's had a horse in the Gold Cup & Saucer, Currie is still a strong supporter of the racing industry.
"In this province, or in any province, the harness racing industry is a major economic contributor to our economy. When you take all these major races and horse sales, they draw people in from all parts of Canada and that of course is an extra benefit to our province, states Currie. "In our province alone, between the Lobster Carnival, Gold Cup & Saucer week and our yearling sales and stakes races, that's one of the biggest contributors to our tourism package and the spin-offs from that go out tenfold."
While stopping short of confirming he would change Section 31 of the Income Act, Currie agreed with Trot Radio's Norm Borg that "with any investment you make, you should be able to deduct it from your income" and was in favour of examining the current laws to ensure that harness racing was "viable and prosperous into the future."
Currie feels strongly about adding new bet types, something that - in the eyes of some - the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency has not been proactive enough in doing.
"I think what the fans and the industry are looking for is new and creative ways to make bets whether it's smaller bets, which some tracks are doing now to entice more betting," offered Currie. "I encourage that and I look forward to working with the industry. I've always believed that where there's a will, there's a way and if the industry asks for it, then the government should be listening to the industry to try to better their product."
The full interview with Borg and Currie is available below.
Episode 194 – Progressive Conservative Candidate Mike Currie
Audio Format: MP3 audio
Host: Norm Borg
Please note that the opinions expressed in the following interview are those of the participant and do not necessarily reflect Rideau Carleton Raceway and/or Standardbred Canada.