Last week, John Snobelen, member of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Panel, penned an opinion column discussing the panel's decisions and reasoning in relation to the transitioning of the Ontario horse racing industry from the slots-at-racetracks program.
In his column, titled 'Horse Racing Changes Tough But Necessary', Snobelen presents a different sentiment on the issue than the one he portrayed in a February, 2012 video edition of Ontario News Watch.
The contents of Snobelen's most recent column appear below, followed by the transcript of his February 2012 opinion piece for Ontario News Watch.
Snobelen Opinion Piece - March 2013
Should taxpayers be asked to support the horse racing industry?
Last summer Ted McMeekin, now the former Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, asked John Wilkinson, Elmer Buchanan and I to address that question.
Back then the McGuinty government had announced the cancellation the Slots At Racetracks Program (SARP), a program initiated by the Harris government. You might have thought the cancellation of SARP would have caused a few arguments between three former cabinet ministers from the Rae, Harris and McGuinty governments. But it didn’t.
Early in our deliberations it became obvious that the SARP program was more than overly rich, it was harmful to the horse racing industry. How can a program that dropped $345 million a year into the racing industry be harmful, you ask?
That much money distorted the industry. Instead of horses competing for purses funded from wagered on races, Ontario was the host of hundreds of races funded by slot machines. Owners, breeders and trainers were disconnected from horseplayers and racing fans. It simply didn’t matter that most of the races attracted few fans and little wagering.
All that mattered was the ping-ping sound from slot machines.
We concluded that SARP was bad public policy. It had to go.
But we also found that without some form of public support the racing industry would die. Around the world successful racing programs receive some form of additional revenue from government.
To improve the industry we recommended tying purses directly to the revenue generated from wagering. With purses consuming all of the gambling revenue, the government would need to help with the operating costs of racetracks and support for Ontario horse breeders.
So the answer to the question of taxpayers supporting horse racing is 'yes.' A healthy horse racing industry, and the jobs it creates, requires public support. But any public investment in horse racing has to have a reasonable return for taxpayers and, ultimately, the industry should always be dependent on its customers.
Turns out that wasn’t the answer some in the horse racing industry wanted to hear.
Governments facing tough times are not looking for places to spend money. To its credit, the Wynne government has moved to make the right investments in the horse racing industry. Negotiations are underway with tracks and $30 million has been dedicated to supporting Ontario-bred racehorses. The Woodbine Entertainment Group has undertaken serious cost reductions at Mohawk and Woodbine to keep racing alive and well at Ontario’s premier tracks.
None of this is easy work and the task of adjusting to the right size for their customer base will be even harder for some in the racing industry. In the lower ranks of standardbred racing — races that attract minimal wagering — the required decline in racing opportunities will be difficult.
The upside of all of this restructuring will be a smaller, more focused Ontario horse racing industry. With more attention on the needs of the racing fan, and less on the sounds of slot machines, the industry can build a solid foundation for growth.
Change is never easy. A more competitive horse racing industry will leave some behind. But, as in any sport, the best will rise to the top. They always do.
The offer of tax dollars to support the racing industry isn’t enough for some people. To those who feel entitled to billions in slot revenues, millions will never be enough.
Truth be told, that may be just fine. Just like any other industry, the future of racing belongs to those with the courage to face reality.
Snobelen Opinion Piece - February 2012
Hi, John Snobelen here for Ontario News Watch.
You know, I don't want to be too hard on my old friend, Dwight Duncan. After all, the guy has been in a rather uncomfortable position for quite a while now. You see, for the last two months Dwight's had to sit on the Drummond Commission Report while the Liberal Government decided how not to implement it --- and sitting on that-thick a report for that period of time, it's just got to be uncomfortable.
And perhaps that explains Dwight's comments this week about the Ontario horse racing industry. The Finance Minister said that he had discovered that the horse racing industry is receiving a 'tax-payer's subsidy' of a little over $300 million a year. Shocking news.
Now, I'm sure Dwight Duncan can remember back to the Harris Government when we put slot machines in all of those racetracks across Ontario. Slot machines obviously draw a lot of revenue away from the gambling that would happen with horse racing, and so the effect on the purses for horse racing is pretty dramatic. To make up for that, the government allowed for a percentage of the slot revenue to go to the horsemen (racetracks and horsemen) so that the racehorse industry would not be affected by the imposition of slot machines on their tracks. All sounds kind of fair to me.
Now, Dwight should probably have a talk with the Minister of Agriculture, Ted McMeekin, because Ted could explain to Dwight that in his riding there are a lot of people that make a living making hay and growing oats and raising horses and doing all of the other things that are involved on putting on horse races -- pretty important industry in lots of parts of Ontario, including Ted McMeekin's riding. I'm not so sure those folks are going to be excited to hear that horse racing will now end in Ontario because it is a lot more efficient to put money in a slot machine than it is to wager on horse racing.
Good thinking, Dwight: Just kill another industry in Ontario and pretty soon we can all work for the government.
I'm John Snobelen for Ontario News Watch.
I find it ironic that he is
I find it ironic that he is quoted as saying "change is never easy" well Mr Snobelen you seem to have no problem changing, you effortlessly changed your views on SARP as soon as you where hired by the liberal govt
First I would like to thank
First I would like to thank standardbredcanada for posting both opinion pieces. It is clear we know who is buttering Snobelen's bread. I am always in disbelief when I read some comments on here, as if people are so surprised that politicians flip flop. That being said, in both opinion pieces he does make some pretty pertinent points. In the 2012 piece he is pretty clear that the slash and burn method is not the best approach which is correct and in the more recent publication he indicates a disconnect between the horse people in the industry and the fans/gamblers that enjoy the sport for all aspects of its entertainment value. When I was young I use to work in the paddock and clean stalls and pull numbers. When my father who trained always asked me what the handle was for the evening of racing and the attendance (this is when admission was still charged). It was important to him to recognize and acknowledge the racing fan for their contributions to the industry. What I get from the horsepeople when I ask these questions is.........
Who is the ORC?....they are the racetrack police.
What is the racetracks job? To provide the venue for the event to take place.
Who are the horse people? They are the entire group that prepare the horses to race. Inclusive of breeding right up to racenight (an extensive list).
When I ask who has the job of attracting fans to the racetrack to watch and bet on the races? I usually read that it is the responsibility of the racetrack.
The handles were in steady decline before the SARP program was ever introduced. Yet I hear that the gripe that the OLG stole the customer base. Most outside the industry would suggest the OLG offered another option.
The majority of the horse people in Ontario that express their views never mention the person player. The way see it out of the ORC(who has been absorbed by OMAFRA) and the racetrack owners(maybe a collective of 200 people) and the 60,000 horsepeople in Ontario, it is clear who is the majority stake holder in this equation. Yet they are taking the least amount of action.
Everyone complains about the government so that doesn't work. There is a group people that you have never ever ever appealed to for support because it is the racetracks job to bring patrons through the door. Sadly they did, OLG did and well the SARP program did. Its the horsepeople that couldn't put the gamblers in the right part of the grandstand. Instead they lost confidence in your product and played games of chance. But it is the ORC's (maybe 200 collectively) job to bring credibility to the product.
Stop relying on a small number people (who don't own, race, or breed horses to save your industry. If those people care more than you then the collective group of 60 000 people have a much larger problem.
In reply to First I would like to thank by jarVi
I have one question. If the
I have one question.
If the horse racing industry was not self-supporting and not worth a government partnership, then why is the government supporting the Bingo industry which is also not self-supporting? Which industry do you think employs more people in Ontario? The SARP program was extremely profitable.
You can believe all of the deception the OLG/Liberals have been forcing on us through their media resources over the past year paid with tax-payer money, but this did not have to be done.
It was done for personal gain at the cost of rural Ontario. I guess it's okay since rural Ontario doesn't vote Liberal.
first of all i do not respect
first of all i do not respect john snobelen
second...why should the revenue sharing be cut at all...they came to us...they used our facilities and they knew they were going to cannibize our industry...they made the deal ! why because it served their own purpose and they got greedy. why not do what the truckers did when they blocked the weight scales ? mto lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
thirdly who made him the spokesperson ? what are the other two doing ? or have they collected their pay and be on their way ?
In reply to first of all i do not respect by nguitard
Ms Guitard, how come
Ms Guitard,
how come horseman say, "they used our facilities",which is a room attached to the racetracks, then when the conversation about advertising and luring fans come, they do not attach themselves to that, and say, "That is the track's job"
It seems evident that the
It seems evident that the members of the Liberal panel have little knowledge of the industry which they were given the mandate to save. Mr. Snobelen has certainly proved that in both years printed comments (above).
Racing could have negotiated phased out revenue sharing given reasonable time to make the changes required. To have decimated an entire industry on a whim with absolutely no information or assistance of any value is a crime. Racing is not an industry where you can turn off the switch - there are live animals to provide for and I'm sure many horsemen are having a very hard time feeding both their families and their horses. It is time for the NDP & PC parties to step up. I know there are other issues on the table but time is running out for the horsemen.
John Snobelen is a disgrace
John Snobelen is a disgrace and not just to the horse racing sector but the entire province. When I saw him at the Queen's Park rally I was disappointed. When he was appointed to the panel I was disgusted. He says that "change is never easy". Change for the better could have improved racing. Change in the industry was and is needed and could have been accepted if it was fairly done over an appropriate ajustment period. Cutting it off at the throat will be suck the life out of it in an instant. Snobelen is no better than the Liberal government that hired him, Godrey and the blood-sucking bingo hall and casino owners. He will likely show up on their payroll after he's finished destroying horse racing. His sort stick together.
Jamie Harris, to answer your
Jamie Harris, to answer your question, you can't buy integrity where none exists.
Mr. Snobelen has a long history of following the money, both publicly and privately. When a member of the ORHA heard that Snobelen was on the committee, he warned that it would come to no good, that "John would look after John" first and foremost. It seems my friend was right on the money. Snobelen's choice of horse is for the most part, in a pretty elite group at the level he participates. It is made up of "wealthy American horsemen", so his lack of empathy towards any kind of horse racing is not surprising.
Come Apr. 1/13, a class
Come Apr. 1/13, a class action suit for billions in lost income and investments would be appropriate. We also need to recover the surplus money held in the horseman's purse accounts. After all it's our money awarded under a legal and binding contract. Mr. Burgess, you will have work to do and every horse person including owners, breeders, trainers, grooms, vets, blacksmiths and anybody associated with the horse industry who has suffered an economic loss had better be prepared to contribute towards legal expenses. The party is now over and it's time to get serious. The Liberals will be hard pressed to buy off the judges like they did everyone else.
Apparently everyone has their
Apparently everyone has their price and his is $1500. a day plus expenses.
His snout is deep in to the Liberal trough, and he will flip flop any which way,
to protect the cash cow. If this is our savior God help us !
ed mchale
Snobelen would look more
Snobelen would look more creditable with a "joker cap." Lol.
This is the top line. The
This is the top line.
The bottom line is that you have no credibility, just lots of incredibilty.
It seems funny to me that Mr.
It seems funny to me that Mr. Snobelen and his crew came to the conclusion that SARP was bad public policy and had to end, even though OLG has gone back to the tracks and made new deals with them. Unfortunately the tracks will no longer be tracks, only slot parlors with that Ping Ping sound still ringing. Could this be even worse public policy down the road since OLG seems to have trouble with making profits at their "real casinos".
I agree that racing in Ontario was flawed by design, but smaller changes over time should have been the preferred over this one sided gutting of a profit making industry for everyone involved. When the program first started, incentives for tracks to increase handle were not implemented and as a result handles decreased because of the added competition from the slots. I find it repulsive how the Partnership suddenly changed to Subsidy at the OLG/Governments
whim. I guess they can call the new program:
SLOTS AT FORMER RACETRACKS PROGRAM
Forget about whining to each
Forget about whining to each other about Snobelen and his ilk that is time consuming and futile!! Nancy Guitard has it exactly right Harness Racing lacks "leadership", that is the true problem!!
"Stinking thinking with a
"Stinking thinking with a chaser of hypocrisy, please." That line copied directly from Mr. Snobelen's article in the Toronto Sun. Heavy on the hypocrisy to say the least aren't you sir? An out spoken critic of the governments stance on SARP who has done a very quick about face. Wonder how much it costs to buy a "man's" integrity. Only Mr Snobelen knows the answer to that one.
'Change Is Never Easy' says,
'Change Is Never Easy' says, Snobelen. When the next provincial election comes around and it is "judgement day" for this incompetent, irresponsible, Liberal government. I believe that "Change Will Only Be, Too Easy."
When Snobelen says, " To those who feel entitled to billions in slot revenues, millions will never be enough." I believe that he's talking about (Olg) Godfrey & Associates, and a desperate provincial liberal government that has an overspending problem.
These selfish low lifes are just a bunch of opportunists preying on the less fortunate, and the less informed.
Snobelen is not a Liberal but
Snobelen is not a Liberal but a big wig in the PC party - he ran (unsuccessfully) to be party president recently ...he made a shambles of the education system under Harris...Hudak makes a lot of noise on this issue, but offers nothing in the way of real solutions or any different approach.
Anybody surprised by this
Anybody surprised by this nonsene, hehas obviously been drinking the Liberal Kool Aid
Very upsetting. Very
Very upsetting. Very insulting. Very wrong.
The racing industry let the government and their slots butt in. Now the racing industry is paying the price.
What is going to happen to all of these unwanted horses? Does the government have an answer?
So sad.
John Snobelen has no
John Snobelen has no credibility.....never did.
I forgot to mention in my
I forgot to mention in my first post that Mr Snobolen should be set straight on something and that is, that the lowly STANDARDBRED HORSE is the world class product that he said he was trying to save.Before all of this destruction happened we were NUMBER ONE in North America. No other breed in Canada can say that. In his words we will be in the top 5. Whoopi!!!!!!
In reply to I forgot to mention in my by peggy-p
I love horse racing l watch
I love horse racing l watch it all from north america first race l watched was k d. But the pools at the b tracks are a joke you can't bet them. London is the only b track that trys but still no money in pools. Has the thought of using all the olg outlets in stores to wager on races came up pools would be huge and you would get new customers ?
I told you this article would
I told you this article would make you sick. Very very insulting. He wants it to be just the big stables with millionaire owners. It wasn't his job to tell us what he wants. I think I cried all night the day I read this article. How about the RCMP. Something sure is foul in all of this. If I can't have a horse I will spend every day finding out what and who was at the bottom of this real life tragedy.
Would someone please start a
Would someone please start a tax revolt? This government has so much scandal in it we need to withhold our taxes.
There is no respect due this
There is no respect due this poor excuse of a man who will bend to whomever is greasing his and the liberal party's palm. A spade is a spade and a liar a liar.
He should get his facts staight before he speaks, it is not the government supporting racing but racing supporting the government.
With due respect to John
With due respect to John Snobelen the only thing he thought about was how to drag this out so he is guaranteed a paycheque ! What was he doing before omafra and what will he be doing after ? Something stinks here and it isn't the manure !
If a store opened and was doing ok selling only pop and the government saw this and said hmm I want to get into the pop business so they set up a store and offered all kind of things the other guy can't well we all know what happens. This is what happened to our industry only they decided to kiss us before . It's a shame we have no leadership or a partner that is willing to fight with us .
Another backstabber,say one
Another backstabber,say one thing one day and then the exact opposite another.Par for the course .You and all your liberal cronies definately must GO.
I would really like to know
I would really like to know how much money they have paid this consultant over the past 14 months Too much I'm sure
I commented way back when
I commented way back when that this "panel" was a stacked deck and this creatin
Snobelen is the Ace in that deck.....His name just might show up on the Sunshine List. He will probably be listed as a "CONSULTANT" This panel is so two faced along with every other LYING LIBERAL....Pause the OLG mondernization. Yea right..
let municipalities make their own mind up about Casinos...yea right....I guess the LIBERALS have enough revenue from teachers and therefore can spend it on BULL $#!T
such as Snobelen, Buchanan, and of course Wilkinson....These 3 only had their own welfare in mind when they set out to contribute to the decimation of racing & agriculture..
They say 300 million to 60000
They say 300 million to 60000 works How many millions to how many bingo halls and workers?
Short minded,short sighted
Short minded,short sighted and short lived - call an election and see if Mr Snobelen keeps his short memory or will he jump sides yet another time - let me see which way is the wind blowing is it with the crooked lying Liberals or with turncoats the likes of Mr Snobelen. Is there no integrety in the PC's & NDP or at least enough to right this wrong. if nothing happens before the conclusion of our contract are we finally ready to take legal action against Godfrey's Liberals. I guess as of Mr Snobelens last article he is now a Liberal as well I would have to wonder just how many meetings were held with Dwight,Dalton & Godfrey prior to these reversal of opinions Mr Snobelen now makes. Far too much corruption in the hands of our government.
" THE BEST WILL RISE TO THE
" THE BEST WILL RISE TO THE TOP " What a let down with the Liberal government. They certainly dont have an enviable player on their whole team.
Change is going to be
Change is going to be difficult. The best will rise to the top. Mr Snobolen, Who do you think you are making statements like this when it affects so many proples lives? There is a similiar ring to all of this. He has learned his lessons well form Dwight and Dalton . So has Kathleen Wynne. Change is one thing . Closing the doors on the most of our racetracks is another. Where does he think the ones that rise to the top will be in 2 years? They will breed American, race American and probably be American. It is only days away from our March 31 deadline and we still don't know if and where our OSS will be , or how much money we can hope to race for. Your horse improvement fund is useless if we don't have a Sire Stake program in place or tracks to race them at. Soon we will see many of our breeders, trainers, drivers ,grooms begin to feel the real effects of the ending the SARP as they start to loose their farms, homes vehicles and families. This is not important to the Liberals and Mr Sbobolen because they are only the lower ranks of the Standardbred industry and as we all know the cream always rises to the top. At the very least that Mr. Snobolen you could have suggested that the Government should have given the industry a few extra years to reinvent itself and in doing so we could have prepared ourselves for this outcome. There would be thousands less horses going to slaughter if the breeders would have known NOT to breed their mares here in Ontario. You have now placed more burden on us trying to find a place for our unwanted, unneeded animals in which we have invested thousands of dollars that could be invested into something else worth while . May be we could have invested in a RRSP as most of us have no government pension to fall back on . I guess there is always welfare or unemployment.
A Simple Question??? The
A Simple Question??? The original $50,000,000. has now become $30,000,000. and it is being called "a subsidy" also. Add up the money left in the Purse Accounts in Ontario as of March 31, 2013. Pretty sure you will find it exceeds the $30,000,000. now being offered. Translation simple and crystal clear..... this Government is not giving the Horse Racing Industry one red cent, in fact you will probably see, it is stealing our share of the purse money, and simply returning some of it as "a subsidy"!!!! Surely there is some sort of legal infraction, theft, embezzlement. My God, I know this Government believes it can(and has been allowed to) walk all over people in this province, but somewhere it has to stop. Can we not put our heads, dollars, horse associations together and start a class action suit against them. THEY ARE STEALING OUR MONEY TO THE TUNE OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SITTING IN THE PURSE ACCOUNTS AS OF MARCH 31, 2013! IT IS NOT THEIR MONEY IT IS THE SURPLUS OF OUR LEGAL SHARE OF THE EXISTING CONTRACTS. Did someone sign the last contract, giving them the right to TAKE OUR MONEY, after one year's notification of the end of SARP???
Most people would call this,
Most people would call this, "wearing two faces." Is this not the same man, that while in the Harris government,spent most of his time at a ranch in Oklahoma,while drawing am MPP's salary? Now the liberals are paying him to solve the horsemans problems. This saga becomes more suspicious all the time. When will the truth come out.
In reply to Most people would call this, by alan w fair
Correction Alan. We are the
Correction Alan. We are the liberal's problem and they are paying him to make us go away. Convenient.
Everyond should refuse to
Everyond should refuse to race April 1st and file for Welfare.Quite a statement and instant chaos to the Liberal Government who said Industry is sustainable. 55,000 people filing for Welfare would get the press we need. Hard to pull off just a thought. Tired of seeing the Industry getting run over, Strongly believe time to put up or shut up!
So let me get this right. The
So let me get this right. The SAR program was a revenue sharing agreement whereby the racing industry was NOT funded thru taxpayers money and now under this new format, we become a truly "subsidized" industry and totally at the mercy of the gov't in power. How is this a benefit to Ontario taxpayers? I submit that this will never last as a long term solution because we are not an essential service such as hospitals, schools, etc. and we will be a natural target for budget cuts as money beomes tight in the future. Furthermore, if the gov't continues to subsidize racing, they will become in dis-favour with the general public and the racing industry will be portrayed as milking the Ontario treasury of badly needed tax dollars. Snobelen`s philosophy that gov`t should support racing will be short lived and a world class industry will be completely destroyed.... all becuse of stupidity. When the decision to end the SAR program was made, NO ONE did their homework as to the benefits that racing and the horse industry, in general, contributed to the rural economy. The gov`t has already decimated the industrial base in Ontario thru their ill-conceived policies and now they want to destroy the agricultural sector as well. As far as I`m concerned, these politicans JUST DON`T GET IT. It doesn`t take rocket science to figure out that their decisions, which are made in desperation, are just another recipe for failure. There is a saying .... that a new broom sweeps clean.... and it`s high time to clean out this rats nest.
Lets not forget that our
Lets not forget that our friend here is an accomplished horseman. A NRHA hall of famer and past president of the ORHA. It appears to me that John Snobelen looks down his nose on the standardbred industry. He speaks of Lower rank standardbred racing and minimal wagering...I haven't seen very much press on his beloved quarter horse track in Ajax that boasts an avg daily purse of $137,714.00 and whopping $6630.00 a day handle. Its pretty clear that hes not acting in the best interest of the standardbred people.
Another article Snobelen
Another article Snobelen wrote was Feb 17 2012 a year ago. McGuinty government addicted to sin taxes...and it stinks. Toronto Sun. The second last line he writes "The message here is simple: Wrecking a century-old industry does not matter. Sin taxes do. Snobelen is now helping wreck this industry.
Mr. Snobelen seems to thrive
Mr. Snobelen seems to thrive on being interviewed. He has been bought and sold for sure. The best thing we can do now is publicly mock Snobelen as an over the hill politician who accepted money from the Liberals to create a document to support their position.
That mindless panel only took a straightline approach to funding. They said here is the take out amount currently and lets divide that and make the industry smaller. The panel has not suggested any ideas or bold initiatives or even any proper form of logical reduction.
Perhaps a petition to disband the OMAFRA panel and request our public money back for this nonsense of a postion paper they have presented.
Clearly some people will lose their livelyhood and go bankrupt. What a shame.
If we were in a middle east country right now we would all be in the streets hurling rocks at the politicians and their military guards. Here we have to wait for an election to make a change.
Georg Leber-ICR Racing
He's probably just another
He's probably just another lobbyist hired by "Goofy" Godfrey & Associates.
Where does the Prime Minister
Where does the Prime Minister stand on this issue? It*s gonna be his cheques we cash,,, right?!! or what?
This charade needs to stop.
This charade needs to stop. Can someone grab the wheel.I do not see any kind of business plan just cut everything down. I think some strategies need to be made to deal with the pari-mutels vs.purses. Best public days for racing and hours of race cards. I have said that some modification in the SARP money in relation to purses is what should be discussed. I still don't understand why the race tracks can't have their Slots money and a measured amount dedicated to horse racing instead of the nonsense of close the Tracks because we setting up a Casino. Stop the insanity, good people are losing their ability to make a living in this country and the government is the reason. I thought every Canadian had the right to make a living in the area of their expertise. Those are your rights and the government wants to take that away. Dead wrong!!
Hahaha. Good one. The only
Hahaha. Good one. The only reason he's changed his mind is that HE NOW WORKS FOR THE LIBERALS. It appears the facts have nothing to do with his perspective on this issue. Only where his alliances lie.
WOW, how things can change
WOW, how things can change eh?
With all due respect to Mr.
With all due respect to Mr. Snobelen - I have heard him speak on another horseracing item previously and he appeared at that time to be a deep thinker who came up with a reasonable solution! It is not my intent to insult his integrity? However what changed in, as above 2 articles not too distant timewise? Now let me guess hmmm!
Three words come to mind:
Three words come to mind: Wishy Washy Traitor!