The Rider March/April 2013

4/ MARCH/APRIL 2013 THE RIDER HON. COL. A.W. FINN CD: Founder

BARRY FINN: barry@therider.com Publisher/ Editor/Advertising Manager

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One year later, Slots at Racetracks cut still rankles

Dave Briggs, In Harness OPINION

The numbers don’t lie: horse racing is good for you.

Stick with me.

Even if you have never been to a race or have no interest in the sport, horse racing is con- tributing to health care and education in Ontario and other vital public pro- grams that impact all citi- zens.

In municipalities with racetracks, horse racing helps keep proper- ty taxes down.

Horse racing pro- vides much-needed rev- enue to fight the massive provincial deficit and debt.

The horse racing industry provides tax rev- enue and jobs in rural Ontario where options are scarce.

So why is the Liberal government willfully dis- mantling the sport as quickly as it can?

Why can’t the gov- ernment do simple math? Why is the Ontario Lottery and Gaming cor- poration throwing away a

major, proven revenue stream in favour of a wild scheme to put more casi- nos — as it likes to say — “where the people are” in the face of growing evi- dence such gaming expansions frequently have disastrous economic and social consequences? Most importantly, why don’t enough people care about horse racing? It has been a year since the Liberals need- lessly targeted horse rac- ing’s 30,000 full-time jobs for execution by can- celling the lottery corpo- ration’s most profitable sector — the Slots at Racetracks program. It’s strange that on one hand Premier Kath- leen Wynne talks of wanting to protect jobs, support rural Ontario and grow the economy and then insists the horse rac- ing industry must be smaller.

Can anyone explain how cutting a billion-dol- lar program, killing jobs in rural Ontario and putting people on social assistance will help her achieve growth, protect jobs and support rural

From Our Founder

Remembering March/April 1979

Our front cover featured All Canadian, a 1971 Sorrel Stallion 95 Speed Index an AQHA Superior Race Horse owned and raced by Jerry Armstrong and standing at Manor Farms in Ajax,Ontario.

The Tack Shop in Selkirk, Ontario was advertising that they would a booth at Quarterama ‘79 with 600 western hats.

The first Canadian Plains 500 mile Horse Race advertised their

communities?

Horse racing received about 60 per cent of its funding from slots operating in private racetracks.

That slots program, like the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, deliv- ered more than $1 billion of revenue to Ontarians every year. Yet, horse racing never gets men- tioned in the same vein as the liquor board as a provincial asset deliver- ing a much-needed rev- enue stream for all Ontar- ians, whether they are customers, or not.

The lottery corpora- tion wants you to swallow its blarney that replacing the slots at racetracks pro- gram with a behemoth casino in your backyard will provide even more money to the treasury. Don’t believe it. Look no further than Atlantic City where the $2.4-billion Revel casino filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week less than a year after opening. The neigh- bouring Trump Plaza was sold two weeks ago for $20 million, less than 10

$70,000 purse. The race was from Regina to Calgary on June 25, 1979.

Edmonton’s first Invitational Cow Chip throwing contest was held at the Farmfair ‘78. Politicians and media were invited to the par- ticipate for the Championship Chip Chucker trophy.

The Calgary Exhibition & Stampede won two major awards from the Las Vegas Annual Hall of Honour Communications Awards.

The Ontario Trail Riders Association presented a Niagara Niagara Escarpment Trail Plan and Corridor to the Niagara Escarp- ment Commission.

per cent of what it cost to build 30 years ago.

Why would any sane person trade a $1-billion success story for a model that loses money?

There are also count- less cautionary tales from cities across North Amer- ica about the damage done to communities when casinos get too big and are located where people live. For sure, such gaming monsters, known for attracting peo- ple and keeping them there, are regarded widely as a death knell for local businesses and a further drain on the most vulner- able.

What about your property taxes? Munici- palities know what they receive from their cut of racetrack slots. Sadly, what they will get under the lottery corporation’s expansion plan is conjec- ture at best. More trou- bling, many of the lottery corporation’s estimates for municipal revenue seem to have declined each time officials are asked. That hardly instills confidence the new plan will be better.

Further, the lottery corporation wants to turn the casino expansion over to private casino compa- nies. Those companies will, assuredly, take more than racing’s 20 per cent cut of revenue. There’s also a strong likelihood those casino companies will be foreign-owned. That means a huge cut of the money will be taken out of Ontario’s econo- my.

Does any of this sound like it’s better for your bottom line?

As far as horse rac- ing is concerned, now the government is talking about spending your tax dollars to subsidize a

sport it’s trying to kill. Under the slots program, only people who chose to gamble at racetracks helped fund the province’s second largest agricultural sector. It wasn’t a handout, either. Horsepeople had to com- pete to earn that money. Sadly, about the only thing we know for sure after a year of uncertainty is that the slots program at racetracks is dead. The industry must accept that and continue to make the only tangible arguments it has: That the lottery corporation’s expansion plans are a gamble Ontarians cannot afford and horse racing

needs to be included in the revenue stream of a more modest gaming modernization plan that’s kept at tracks and out of people’s backyards.

If you’re still not convinced, if you still don’t care, ask yourself this question: Will you be better off a year from now if horse racing is gone?

Dave Briggs is the editor of The Canadian Sports- man, the oldest harness racing magazine in North America. He can be reached

by email at dbriggs@canadiansports- man.ca

Opinions expressed in this newspaper, including those in Letters To The Editor, are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.

The Rider welcomes letters on any subject but reserves the right to edit them for brevity and clarity. Letters of 200 words or less are more likely to be published. All letters, including those sent by

E-mail, must include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number. E-mail: barry@therider.com

The Pine Ridge Appaloosa Club held a fund raising dance on March 31 at the Mount Albert Hall.

The Sault Saddle Club held their annual Awards Banquet with 166 in attendance.

The Ontario Competitive Trail Riders Association held a trail rid- ing seminar with guest speaker Dr. Matthew Makay-Smith DVM of Pennsylvania.

Shirley Crane was elected the first woman President of WHAO. Shirley served ad a director in 1975 and as Vice President in 1978 and 1979.

My Turn I was deeply saddened by the

loss of two of Canada’s top horse- men George Coverdale and Bill Stirling this past February. They will be missed by many friends, family and horsepeople.

Dalton McGuinty our former know it all Liberal premier has finally had the reigns of power taken from him and handed over to a sacrificial lamb, Ms. Wynne. Dalton will only been seen and not heard as he struggles with his occa- sional appearance at Queens Park as a back bencher.

would go. Now the almost bankrupt businesses in Windsor are lining up to employ him.

The only one left standing is the one anointed to the job of CEO of the OLG by the now disgraced the Green Energy instigator Mr. McGuinty. Hopefully, one day when Mr. Godfry runs out of steam from being on the boards of direc- tors of several thousand businesses things in the horse racing industry will get back to normal.

Mr. Dwight Duncan, the Lib- eral former finance minister, saw the light as the Ontario Liberals have set their sights on being oblit- erated in the next election, like the PC’s under Kim Campbell were. Dwight ran away as fast as his legs

Aidan W. Finn CD President

aidanfinn13@gmail.com http://www.orangeapeel.com For canine cancer support http://www.smilingblueskies.com

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